Turkish ex-FM: Country's parliament not to ratify Ankara-Yerevan protocols

The Turkish Parliament will not ratify the Turkish-Armenian protocols after their amendment by the Armenian Constitutional Court, Turkish Parliamentary EU Adjustment Committee Chairman and former Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said.

"If Armenia hoped that Ankara would take the Armenian Constitutional Court's amends to the protocols, it is mistaken. Ankara will never accept them," Yakis told Trend News over the phone.

Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian, signed the protocols in Zurich Oct. 10.

After his official visit to Moscow, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Ankara that although some claims that the Turkey-Armenia relations are not related to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, this process is directly related to the conflict.

The Armenian Constitutional Court approved that the Ankara-Yerevan protocols complied with the Armenian Constitution Jan.12, 2009. However, later the court reported that the creation of a joint commission to study the 1915 events is unnecessary and Armenia will always seek to recognize the genocide.

Erdogan warned that if the Armenian Constitutional Court does not reverse its decision, the relations between Ankara and Yerevan may erode.

There is no such rule in the international practice, where after the signing of an international instrument a domestic legislative body can make changes, he said.

The Turkish government signed the protocols not with the Constitutional Court, but with the Armenian government and the court's decision is an internal affair of Yerevan, and has no relation to Turkey, he added.

According to him, if Armenia had any claims in connection with the signed protocol, it should have said earlier.

"If the Turkish MPs stated that they will not ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols, until the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, any prime minister or foreign minister or president will not affect their decision," he said.

Regarding efforts from the United States and Russia, which are co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, Yakis said:  "Washington is now more interested in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as the delay in this matter could have a negative effect on U.S. relations with such ally as Turkey."

Russia, in turn, does not want to loose positions in the South Caucasus, and does not intend to relinquish its influence in the region.

"If Armenia solves its problems with Turkey, it no longer needs the presence of Russia in the South Caucasus, and sooner or later, Armenia would send its gaze toward the United States," he said.

Nevertheless, resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in Russia's interest, which is concerned over the lack of stability in the South Caucasus, he added.

"But politicians sometimes do not take strategic decisions, taking into account only the goals of today. I think that Russia will not show resolution when deciding on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," he said.

/Trend News/