Turkish FM and Armenian leader meet in Kiev

The Turkish foreign minister told reporters after the meeting that he had had the opportunity to talk to the Armenian president about the Turkish-Armenian relationship normalization process, and developments in the Caucasus.

"We reviewed the Turkish -Armenian normalization relationship in its entirity with open hearts today including our anxieties and the obstacles we face," Davutoğlu said. "We spoke about Armenian- Azerbaijan relations and the activities of the Minsk Group as related to the Karabakh issue," he said.

"I also had the opportunity to tell Mr. Sarkisian about Turkey's vision for the region," he said.

Davutoğlu said this was the first meeting between him and Sarkisian after a controversial decision from the Armenian Constitutional Court slowed down progress made after the two countries signed protocols to restore diplomatic ties.

The Armenian parliament Thursday made it easy for Yerevan to scrap the protocols signed with Turkey by passing amendments that will allow President Serge Sarkisian to suspend ratification and withdraw from previously signed international agreements. The amendments were passed by a vote of 70 to 4. The move comes amid growing frustration in Armenia over the Turkish Parliament's failure to ratify the protocols signed in October.

The signing of the deals was hailed internationally as a key step in overcoming decades of enmity stemming from World War I-era killings of Armenians under the late days of the Ottoman Empire.

Ratification by both countries' parliaments stalled as the two sides traded accusations of attempts to modify the deal.

Ankara has accused Yerevan of trying to set new conditions after Armenia's Constitutional Court said the protocols could not contradict Yerevan's official position that the Armenian killings constituted "genocide" - a label Turkey fiercely rejects.

Armenia, for its part, is furious over Ankara's insistence that normalizing Turkish-Armenian ties depends on progress in resolving the conflict between Armenia and Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan after ethnic Armenian forces wrested Nagorno-Karabakh from Baku's control in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.

The conflict remains unresolved despite years of international mediation.

/Hurriyet Daily News/