YEREVAN. – Armenia has substantiated grounds to withdraw its signature from the Armenian-Turkish protocols and this should be done as soon as possible, Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party Bureau and Head of the Armenian Cause Office, stated during a press conference on Wednesday.  

In his words, today, which marks the third anniversary of the signing of these protocols, these documents are in the same state as three years ago. “[But] They do exist and are legal documents. Also, there is the Turkish side’s interpretation that these protocols are not dead. [But] This is half true. They exist, but no work is being done [to implement them],” Manoyan said.       

According to him, these protocols must cease to exist. “Armenia must withdraw its signatures [from these documents] because they benefit Turkey, not Armenia. Turkey uses the protocols as a lever to assume a role in the Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] issue,” the ARF representative said.    

In his view, Armenia will not withdraw its signatures before the presidential elections in February, since the sole benefit reaped from them was the Armenian authorities’ acquiring the image of a good partner in the eyes of several states whose interests favor these protocols.   

Also, Giro Manoyan stressed that if Armenia withdrew its signature from the protocols, this will not jeopardize regional stability in any way.   

Photo by Sona Barseghyan