YEREVAN. – The Zurich protocols on normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations were not beneficial for the Armenian side from the very beginning, expert Ashot Melkonyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am commenting on the Turkish President’s press secretary Ahmet Sever’s statement in the Vatan newspaper. 

Within the context of the President Abdullah Gul’s possible running for the highest office for the second term, the press secretary said that the major disappointment for Gul were the unsettled Kurdish and Armenian issues.

“The Turkish side immediately following the signing of the protocols stated that they refer also to the third side, hinting the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Such an interpretation was beneficial for Turkey, as it links the normalization process with the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the alleged ‘occupied’ - but for me liberated - territories of Nagorno-Karabakh. As such a disposition met the rough resistance of the Armenian communities and Diaspora, the process appeared in a deadlock. I am only glad for it, as the protocols intended to confirm the current de-facto borders between Armenia and Turkey via Araks and Akhuryan rivers, which is inadmissible for me, as a historian,” Melkonyan stated.

To note, the protocols on normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Oct. 10 in Zurich. However, the ratification process in both parliaments was suspended due to the nonconstructive position of Turkey, which set pre-conditions after signing protocols.