Armenia-Turkey protocols declared null and void – Yerkirmedia.am

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on Thursday convened the National Security Council to declare the bilateral protocols with Turkey null and void, Yerkirmedia.am reports, citing Vladimir Hakobyan, the presidential spokesperson.

The Protocols on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, and the Opening of the Interstate Border between Turkey and Armenia were initialed in Zurich, Switzerland on October 10, 2009. They were pending ratification by the two countries' parliaments “within reasonable timeframes”.

Drastically changing its stance after the protocols’ signing and  backing away from its commitment to unconditionally normalize its relations with Armenia “within reasonable timeframes”, Turkey linked the ratification issue to the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

On April 22 2010, President Sargsyan signed a decree to suspend the process, considering Turkey’s political stance, and a joint appeal by the political board representing the governing coalition.

On February 16 2015, the Protocols were recalled from the National Assembly.

In his speech at the UN General Assembly’s 72nd session on September 20, the Armenian leader promised to declare the documents null and void until spring.