Armenian and Turkish societies should step up efforts to strengthen bilateral ties, said the representatives of “Turkey-Armenia Policy Discussions” held in Istanbul.
Senior adviser at the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabanci University Joost Lagendijk deems that Turkey had good intentions but failed to deliver results, Today’s Zaman reported.
“The Turkish government has good intentions, but decisions have not been able to be implemented,” he said, noting that one week after the signing of the Protocols, Turkish Premier Erdogan made a link of the Armenian-Turkish relations with the Karabakh issue.
On the whole, the Armenian and Turkish participants agreed that the Protocols “should not be abandoned altogether as they represent the best progress obtained so far as a result of the official dialogue.”
According to the former ARFD member Gegham Manukyan, both countries need new simple document, containing just two issues: opening the border and establishing diplomatic relations. The other problems can be solved later, he noted. “They should adapt a step-by-step approach,” he told Today’s Zaman.
