Armenia wanted to improve its relations with the neighboring state and received an adequate response, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated at his meeting with Turkish journalists. He said that it was Yerevan’s initiative though some Turkish newspapers claimed it to be a Turkish one.

“It was not so. It was the Armenian President that sent an invitation to an Armenia-Turkey football match to his Turkish counterpart. After hesitating for a rather long time, the Turkish side accepted the invitation. That gave a start to the negotiations. They have been most intensive. One word often took hours and days, but we arrived at an agreement early this February. Whose blame is it that the initialing process was protracted as long as until April? I am not naming anyone, it is up to you to draw conclusions. After being initialed, the protocols were signed on October 10. Why? Whose blame it was? You yourself answer the question. The entire international community is of unanimous opinion that the protocols must be ratified as soon as possible, within a reasonable timeframe and without any preconditions,” the Minister said.

Minister Nalbandian stressed that all the nations, except for Azerbaijan, welcomed the process. He is sure that the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation will only be beneficial for the entire region, and Azerbaijan is part of the region. “It is not aimed against any other nation. We are not alone saying it. Numerous political figures stated that the process is not aimed against any other nation. On the contrary, all of them are interested in this process because it can be beneficial not only for Armenia, but also for Turkey and for the other states of the region. If we were unable to find a solution in the 20th century, let us find it at least in the 21st century,” Nalbandian said.

“No doubt, dependence is an obstacle. One thing is a bilateral agreement, quite another thing is a multilateral international agreement. Have you ever heard about a precondition set by Armenia? Of course, you have not. It is obvious that preconditions, dependence, reservations impede the process. It is not Armenia, or Nagorno-Karabakh, that makes bellicose statements before each top-level meeting to show that the negotiations have failed or to thwart the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation,” Nalbandian said.

T.P.