Turkish Ministers’ Council returned to the country’s parliament the Armenian-Turkish protocols, which, together with other draft laws, were declared null and void in late August.    

This step is official Ankara’s gesture to Yerevan, Turkish Takvim daily writes. The government of Turkey decided to restore 166 international agreements—including the Armenian-Turkish protocols—of the 171 agreements left from the previous legislative period.   

On August 22, the Turkish government had declared null and void, together with other draft laws, the protocols, on establishing diplomatic relations and strengthening bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey, which the two countries’ FMs—Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoglu—had signed in Zurich, Switzerland, on October 10, 2009. 

Pursuant to Turkish parliament’s internal regulations, those draft laws that are not finalized during the given legislative period are considered null and void. So, the documents were removed from the agenda of Turkey’s lawmaking body, since the 23rd legislative period had ended. But there is a point in the law which says the government or the MPs can restore a draft law, Turkish Anadolu News Agency reported.        

To note, once the two FMs had signed these protocols, they were introduced to the parliaments of both countries for ratification. On April 22, 2010, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had declared the suspension of the ratification process, noting that the Turkish side is not ready to continue the dialogue with Yerevan without preconditions, as is envisioned by the protocols. At the same time, however, Armenia maintained its signature under the protocols.