Armenia, Turkey sign protocols to establish diplomatic ties

U.S State Secretary Hillary Clinton, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey also attend signing of the protocol.

Earlier Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trend News in an exclusive interview that Turkey and Armenia will sign a deal to establish diplomatic ties on Oct. 10 or 11.

On Aug. 31, Turkey and Armenia in the talks mediated by Switzerland reached an agreement to launch "internal political consultations" to sign the Protocol on Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and Protocol on Development of Bilateral Relations, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reported.

Political consultations will be completed within six weeks, and following that two protocols will be signed and submitted to the two countries' parliaments for approval, the ministry reported.

At present Turkey does not plan to open the borders with Armenia, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davudoglu said earlier.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993.

On Oct. 10, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the Turkish media that his country would never take a step contradicting Azerbaijan's interests.

/Trend News/