Serzh Sargsyan: In the absence of a positive progress towards the  implementation of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation protocols,  Armenia will declare them null and void

ArmInfo. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, speaking at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, expressed gratitude to all those countries that recognized 

the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Turkey.

"From this high tribune of Honor and Responsibility I consider it my duty to express 

gratitude to those countries that recognized or confirmed their 

position on the Armenian Genocide. Thank you, regardless of the 

format of this recognition and the language used. Thanks to all those 

figures, state bodies, territorial associations or organizations of 

many and many countries who publicly call things by their own names. 

This is really important, as oblivion opens the way for new crimes of 

genocide, "the RA President said. In this regard, he stressed, 

everyone should remember that next year the family of the United 

Nations will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Convention on the 

Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. "In this 

connection, Armenia will come up with a new initiative, and we invite 

everyone to join us and support this initiative," the head of the 

republic said, stressing that Armenia has never made recognition of 

the Armenian Genocide a prerequisite for the settlement of bilateral 

relations between the RA and Turkey. Moreover, he noted, it was 

thanks to the process initiated by Armenia in October 2009 that the 

Zurich protocols were signed. 

"These documents have not been ratified to this day and laid by 

Ankara in dark boxes. The Government of Turkey sets forth absurd 

preconditions for their ratification, which do not at all follow from 

the letter and spirit of the protocols. I expressed the clear 

attitude of the Armenian people to all this three years ago from this 

high rostrum. Now it's time to give an additional explanation. The 

leadership of Turkey is mistaken if it thinks that it can forever 

hold these documents hostage and ratify them on a convenient occasion 

for them.  Negotiations on protocols were conducted in the current 

conditions to find solutions to existing problems, "Sargsyan said, 

stressing that in the absence of any positive progress towards their 

implementation, Armenia will declare the two protocols null and void.

"We will enter the spring of 2018 without these, unfortunately, the 

vain protocols, as experience has shown.  Armenia, nevertheless, 

remains confident that any two neighboring states are obliged to 

establish and have regular relations to discuss all possible 

differences between them and to find their solutions, "the head of 

state said, noting that Armenia is guided by this conviction, 

realizing their participation in various integration processes.

Protocols on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations were 

signed on October 10, 2009 in Zurich. The protocols were signed by 

the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey Edward Nalbandian and 

Ahmet Davutoglu in the presence of the Foreign Ministers of France, 

the USA, Russia and Switzerland, which was the mediator in the 

Armenian-Turkish negotiations since 2007. According to the documents, 

diplomatic relations should be established between the countries and 

the Armenian-Turkish border closed since 1993 is opened. On January 

12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Armenia recognized the 

Protocols as being in compliance with the Armenian Constitution. 

There are no preconditions for the Protocols in the conclusion of the 

Constitutional Court, because this contradicts the established rule 

of verdicts. 

The verdict of the Constitutional Court reads: the Armenian-Turkish 

Protocols on the normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations are 

in accordance with the RA Constitution and the Declaration on the 

Independence of Armenia.  In April 2010, the Armenian president 

suspended the process of ratifying the protocols.