E. Nalbandian: Turkey says one thing and does something else

“Some people, including in Europe, have no confidence in the Turkish side. They think that Turkey says one thing and does something else,” Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said in his interview to the Austrian daily Der Standard.

The Minister noted that the negotiation process with the Turkish side was long, a difficult one with many obstacles.

“There were more than ten meetings on ministerial level. In Davos, for example, we had 35 hours of negotiations with the Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. We finally came to the agreement and we signed Protocols in Zurich in October, 2009, in presence of representatives of Switzerland, USA, Russia, France, EU, Council of Europe. Once it was signed, Turkey put forward preconditions for the ratification,” the Minister said.

Asked what has happened with the Turkish side, Nalbandian said: “You probably have to ask them.”

“Maybe nothing had happened. In all cases, maybe those who said you cannot have confidence on Turkey, are granted with an argument,” Minister noted.

Touching upon the forthcoming elections in Turkey the Minister said: “Turks tend to think that only in Turkey they have elections, their public opinion. We have in fact much more reason to talk about preconditions.”

Asked to what extent has Azerbaijan, Turkey's political partner and energy source, sabotaged the process of normalization between Armenia and Turkey, Minister Nalbandian said that all countries in the world supported this process, with one exception: Azerbaijan.

“I don‘t think they were right. The normalization of the relations could have been beneficial not only for Turkey and Armenia, but for the whole region. And Azerbaijan is part of this region,” Nalbandian said.

As to the possibility of revival of Zurich protocols, Edward Nalbandian said that there is only one way, not several.

“We have signed the protocols, we have to ratify and implement them – without any preconditions according to the principle of pacta sunt servanda,” Edward Nalbandian stated.

In response to the question whether that will be possible once the parliamentary elections in Turkey in June are over, Nalbandian said that after the parliamentary elections there will be other elections.

“If you look for a reason to postpone the ratification you can always find one. I think the Turkish society today is more supportive for normalization on the one hand, and on the other hand are more receptive about the past. The start of negotiations and the signing of the protocols opened new windows. For the first time on 24th of April last year, the people gathered in the Turkish cities to commemorate the day of the Armenian genocide. More than 30.000 Turkish citizens signed the petition asking for forgiveness from the Armenian people,” Armenia’s FM said.