Davutoğlu was speaking as the government sent the two protocols to Parliament for ratification. The governing party holds a majority in the 550-seat Parliament, and the accords are likely to be ratified. But it is not clear when voting will take place since there is no timetable on when the ratification should take place. Armenia and Turkey signed the protocols in Zurich on Oct. 10. They need to be ratified by both parliaments to go into force. Underlining that the mutual recognition of the border protocols and the implementation of a “dialogue on the historical aspect [of Turkey-Armenia disputes] with the aim of restoring mutual confidence between the two nations” were important parts of the protocols, Davutoğlu said: “What we aim at is laying the ground for general normalization in the Caucasus. What we want to do is create a ‘just memory'.”
Normalization can be meaningful when it is comprehensive, but not when it is only between two countries, the minister added, stressing that normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan would also accelerate reconciliation and peace between Baku and Yerevan, provided that Turkey's firm support for the protection of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity continues.
“The status quo is not useful for any of these countries. We should remove the status quo with peaceful means in order to avoid seeing the emergence of a new risk,” Davutoğlu said.
Davutoğlu's speech was frequently interrupted by opposition lawmakers, who accuse the government of making concessions by signing the documents. “The protocols are against the national interests of our country,” said Oktay Vural, who addressed the session on behalf of his Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He claimed that the protocols were signed under pressure from the US and said, “The MHP will oppose as strongly as it can when Parliament begins voting on the protocols.”
The Republican People's Party's (CHP) Şükrü Elekdağ criticized the government for pushing for protocols in Parliament although there is no progress on Armenia's Nagorno-Karabakh dispute with Azerbaijan.
The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), on the other hand, welcomed the protocols. “We support the resolution of Turkey's domestic and foreign issues with dialogue,” Selahattin Demirtaş of the DTP told Parliament. He also called for a “more open” debate on Turkey's history: “I'm saying it openly, the massacres of the Armenians are not mentioned in our textbooks,” he said.
