Turkey mulls response after Armenian parliament freezes protocols

Turkey is studying what steps to take after Armenia's ruling coalition announced it was halting ratification of a historic accord on normalizing bilateral relations, a Turkish diplomat said Thursday.

"We are evaluating the content of this [Armenian] statement and what it means" legally and politically, foreign ministry spokesman Burak Özügergin told Agence France-Presse.

"In this context, we are also discussing steps that could be taken in the coming period," he added, without elaborating.

In their statement earlier Thursday, the three parties that form a majority in Armenia's parliament accused Turkey of a refusal to ratify the accord "without preconditions and in a reasonable timeframe."

"Armenia’s political majority considers unacceptable the Turkish side’s position and, particularly, the latest statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who makes the ratification of the Protocols conditional on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process," the statement said.

Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark deal in October to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their border after decades of hostility.

But parliamentary ratification of the deal has stalled in both countries over the contentious issue of World War I-era killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, which Yerevan insists constituted genocide. Turkey fiercely rejects the label, saying many died on both sides during civil strife.

Another sticking point is Turkey's support for Armenia's foe Azerbaijan in their dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

"We believe it is necessary to halt this process and remove discussions of this question from the agenda ... of the National Assembly until the Turkish side is prepared to continue the process without preconditions," the Armenian statement said.


/Hurriyet Daily News/