Number of Protocols Supporters Dwindling As Normalization Process Drags Out: Sargsyan

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has suggested that Turkey will not normalize relations with Armenia without preconditions anytime soon and again threatened to annul the universally welcomed agreements signed by the two nations last October, reports Asbarez.com.

In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro published on Thursday, Sargsyan also warned that Ankara’s reluctance to ratify them is swelling the ranks of Armenians opposed to his conciliatory policy on Turkey.

“Our desire to establish normal relations is great,” he said. “However, recent statements from Turkey make me think that they will not ratify the protocols in the foreseeable future.

“We had warned that if we become convinced that the Turks are using the normalization process for other purposes we will take appropriate steps. In that case, we will withdraw our signature from the protocols.”

According to Sargsyan, the two governments agreed to put the protocols into practice “within a reasonable time frame and without preconditions” when they inked the deal in Zurich in October 2009.

“We have said that Armenia would ratify the protocols immediately after their ratification by Turkey,” he said. “And yet Turkey keeps putting forward preconditions for their ratification, the most important of them relating to Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Sargsyan again avoided setting any deadlines for the Turkish ratification. Officials from his administration implied earlier that the Turkish leadership has until the end of March to endorse the agreements or face their unilateral repeal by Armenia. However, the latest indications are that Yerevan is ready to wait at least until April 24.

Sargsyan told Le Figaro that his Turkish policy has caused “a great deal of concern among Armenians around the world.” “As a result of the dragging out of the normalization process, the number of [Armenian] supporters of the protocols is increasingly dwindling,” he warned.

The Armenian leader also reaffirmed Yerevan’s strong support for the passage of a US congressional resolution recognizing the Armenian massacres as genocide.

“But the US Congress and State Department hardly make decisions based on our views or wishes,” he added.