Turkey is "Ready to Take Steps Given There are Relevant Circumstances:" Davutoglu Responds to Sargsyan

Ankara is hopeful that the Armenia-Turkey normalization will resume from the point it stopped, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, quoted by local Turkish daily Hurriyet, said in response to Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan's April 22 decision to suspend the ratification of the Armenia-Turkey Protocols.

"It is a unilateral decision made by Armenia. As stated by Prime Minister [Recep] Tayyip Erdogan, it is their business and it is up to them to decide [what to do]. Naturally, we cannot intervene in their domestic affairs. But it is quite important [they put] the accent on continuing the process. We hope that Armenia and Turkey would see relevant political atmosphere as soon as possible, and the process continue from the point it stopped," said Davutoglu, adding that the continuation of the process is beneficial not only for Armenia and Turkey but for all other regional powers, as well as for the international community in the face of US, France and Russia.

Davutoglu also said Turkey remained committed to the letter and soul of the Protocols signed between Ankara and Yerevan, recalling that those documents are still in the Turkish parliament and that the Turkish side is "ready to take steps given there are relevant circumstances."

Further Hurriyet informs that Davutoglu met with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in the framework of an informal NATO summit in Tallinn, Estonia, and discussed Sargsyan's recent decision to suspend the ratification of the protocols.

The two diplomats highlighted the importance of continuing the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.