Armenian Second TV Channel
Dec 10 2009

Armenian leader warns Turkey over delay in mending ties

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has said that if Turkey continues to
delay steps aimed at the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,
then Armenia will use the principles of international law and withdraw
from the signed Armenian-Turkish protocols, the Armenian Second TV
channel reported on 10 December.

"We consider that attempts which are being made on the part of Turkey,
are unambiguously doomed – you know these attempts refer to the
Nagornyy Karabakh issue and Turkey’s goal is to link Armenian-Turkish
relations to the Karabakh issue. I should repeat yet another time that
these attempts have been doomed to failure from the very beginning,"
Sargsyan said at a joint news conference with his Latvian counterpart
in Yerevan on 10 December.

Sargsyan said that the Yerevan government appreciates everyone’s
efforts, including efforts of the USA, to positively impact the
process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, TV reported.
"The US president spoke about the necessity of recognition of the
genocide, [necessity] for Turkey’s viewing its history impartially in
Turkish parliament as well. Of course, it is extremely important that
Turkey understands that peace and security in the Caucasus will be
established only under the circumstance when Armenian-Turkish
relations are normalized as well," TV quoted Sargsyan as saying.

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers said at the news conference that his
country welcomes the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations,
noting that improvement of relations leads to the improvement of
people’s welfare, TV reported.

Armenia started dialogue with Turkey in September 2008 when Turkish
President Abdullah Gul visited the country to watch a soccer match of
the Armenian and Turkish national teams at the invitation of his
Armenian counterpart. There are no diplomatic ties between the two
countries. Turkey closed borders with Armenia in 1993 over the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and ties the normalization of ties with
Armenia to the Karabakh settlement. The Armenian government backs
normalization of ties with Turkey "without preconditions".

The first statement on the normalization of relations was signed on 22
April 2009. Armenian-Turkish protocols on the establishment of
diplomatic ties and bilateral relations were signed on 10 October in
Zurich, and are currently to be considered by Turkish parliament.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly linked the
normalization process to progress in the Karabakh talks during his
recent visit to the USA, while both Armenia and Western superpowers
expressed themselves in favour of the normalization of ties "without
preconditions and within reasonable timeframes".

[translated from Armenian]