Armenia-Turkey rapprochement is seemed to be reaching critical point since Protocols’ signing, December 18 Hurriyet Daily reads.

The daily recalls that neither of the sides ratified the documents yet, quoting Vigen Sargsyan, the Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff as saying, “March will be the point of no return. Each morning it will be more difficult to do this than the day before.” According to the source, he is “sending a strong signal that Yerevan might withdraw its signatures from the protocols if Turkey does not push them through its Parliament.”

“Ankara says it will not ratify the protocols, which would open the border between two countries in two months, until it sees progress in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the article reads.

Presently a group of Turkish journalists is on a visit to Yerevan and according to Hurriyet, the most frequent question they are asked is when or whether Turkey will ratify the Protocols.

“The Armenian side has adopted a wait-and-see approach until Turkey takes a step in that direction.

Diplomatic sources say Turkey's approach is negatively impacting the solution process in the frozen conflict, which is a legacy of the Soviet Union, and if Turkey wants to make a contribution to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, then it should stop linking the two processes together.

This time the new deadline is April 24, 2010, which marks the 95th anniversary of the Armenian commemoration. Sources say that the closer this date comes, the more difficult it will be to ratify the protocols in Yerevan with wide public support,” the Hurriyet concludes.

A.G.