A senior U.S. official called on Turkey and Armenia to ratify protocols to normalize relations.
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Mr. Philip Gordon said Turkey and Armenia need to move forward in ratifying and implementing protocols on establishment of diplomatic relations signed last October.
“We believe this is an opportunity to overcome historic differences between the two countries in a way that would benefit both," Gordon said. "To establish normalized relations between the two countries and open the border would contribute to peace and stability in the region, and we think that is true regardless of other issues – that it needs to move forward independently of other issues, simply because it is in the interest of the two countries," he said.
Mr. Gordon said the U.S. government was in touch with both governments and that the Obama administration encouraged them to move forward.
“Turkey-Armenia normalization is a good thing in and of itself and it should move forward because of that," he said, Anatolian News Agency reported.
The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation.
On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.
