“Armenia demonstrated political will towards normalization of ties with Turkey and expects Turkey to undertake a return step,” Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan said on Wednesday during a meeting with Armenian diaspora youth, members of the Miasin movement and the Return Home program, Armenian news portal Panarmenian.net reported.
Turkey and Armenia sealed historic twin protocols in October of last year with a hope to bury their century-long animosity while establishing diplomatic relations and opening their long-shut border. Turkey has kept the doors closed since 1993 as a sign of solidarity with its Turkic brethren in Azerbaijan during the Armenian assault on the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pointing to international pressure on Turkey to ratify the protocols -- currently at a standstill after Turkey pegged its ratification to the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute -- Sarksyan said the whole world is urging Turkey to demonstrate political will in ratifying the protocols. “Ankara is turning a deaf ear,” Sarksyan said, “calling on Armenia to show political will.”
The most sensitive issue for Turkey within the protocols is the opening of the borders with the impoverished South Caucasian country, which was at war with Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Azerbaijan stridently opposed the opening of the border, further complicating the process.
“Despite Turkish authorities’ statements, Armenia is ready to accept any expression of friendship,” Sarksyan said.
