 |
Turkish Armenian Protocol welcomed by France and US
The consultation period will then be followed by ratification in the Turkish and Armenian parliaments, in a move to establish diplomatic ties and develop bilateral relations between the two countries.
A press release issued by State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said the US favors normalization between Turkey and Armenia without preconditions and within a reasonable time frame. The statement also said the US urges Turkey and Armenia to proceed expeditiously, according to the agreed framework in which both parties have agreed to launch their internal political consultations to achieve better relations.
The US announced that it was ready to work closely with both governments in support of normalization which it regarded as a historic process that would contribute to peace, security and stability throughout the region, and it foresees further steps for mending ties between the two neighbors.
Furthermore, the step towards reconciliation by Armenia and Turkey has also been praised by France. President Sarkozy welcomed the developments, saying in a statement that the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey would constitute an event of historic importance that would contribute to regional stability in the Caucasus.
“I congratulate the officials of Armenia and Turkey and encourage them to double their efforts to sign an agreement,” said the statement.
France and the US are the co-chairs with Russia of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, which has been mediating for one-and-a-half decades to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.
Earlier on Monday Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan reiterated that he will not attend the Turkey-Armenia 2010 World Cup qualifying match in Turkey if the border between Armenia and Turkey remains closed, nearly a month after a similar remark made in an interview with the BBC.
President Abdullah Gül visited Yerevan last September to watch a World Cup qualifying game and invited Sarksyan to Turkey to watch the return game. For more than one-and-a-half years, Turkey and Armenia have been holding closed-door talks to restore their relations.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| The modern ‘Great Game’: women’s role and status | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
| KATHY HAMILTON |  |
||
| Random acts of violence | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| Adding insult to injury in Uludere | |||
| NICOLE POPE |  |
||
| Shifting responsibility | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| ‘Errorism’ | |||
| ORHAN MİROĞLU |  |
||
| ‘Strategic vision’ | |||
| ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ |  |
||
| Turkey through Amnesty International’s eyes | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
