“The verdict returned by the Constitutional Court is in harmony with the statements made by the Armenian President both in the country and during his pan-Armenian tour and in his message on October 10,” RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated in his interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Responding to a question as to whether he is ware of Turkey’s attempts to delay the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols until this April or even further, Nalbandian said: “This is a most primitive approach. I do not think it can be said so – until April or later. I think that the Turkish side is well aware that the April 2010 is not the last April in this world.”

Commenting on Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s statement that most active, but secret diplomatic work is being carried out with Armenia, and Russia, being a pivotal state, is involved in the process as well, and that something is being prepared behind the scenes, Nalbandian said: “If, considering these statements, anyone thinks that anything is being schemed against us, I can state with confidence that the Armenian authorities will never scheme anything behind the people’s back. We say the facts – we have been doing it since the process was launched and will do it in future. With the Turkish leaders we discussed only the issues of Armenian-Turkish relations. No other issues are on the agenda.”

Speaking of the point on an Armenian-Turkish subcommittee of historians viewed by many as an attempt to challenge the fact of the Armenian Genocide, Minister Nalbandian said: “Armenia has never challenged the Armenians Genocide and the importance of its international recognition nor will it ever do so. Some persons must have failed to notice those statements. They must also have failed to notice the statements that the subcommittee will deal with re-establishing mutual understanding and confidence between the two nations. They must have failed to notice my statement about the efforts to get the Armenian Genocide recognized by the U.S. Congress.”

As regards a statement by Speaker of the RA Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan that Armenia will take steps unless Turkey ratified the Armenian-Turkish protocols within a reasonable time frame and whether Armenia may pull out from the negotiations, Minister Nalbandian said: “If we believe the statements made by the opponents, Turkey should have ratified the protocols immediately. It is obvious that it was we that launched, carried out the process and reached agreements and that the process is without any preconditions. If any preconditions had existed, we would not have launched the process or reached agreements. At present the Turkish Premier says the protocols do not contain any preconditions, and suddenly adds that some preconditions may be behind the scenes, under the table or behind the back. The Russian leaders recently gave an excellent response to them. The U.S. leaders responded as well. France responded too. All the sides’ approaches are obvious and similar. Remember the statement by the U.N. Secretary General, EU top officials stated the same. If one of the sides delays, it means it assumes the full responsibility if the process fails.”

Minister also addressed the risks the reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border may pose, as well as the consequences. “This is all the states normally practice in their relations with other states by means of customs, tax, economic, and other means of ensuring security,” Nalbandian said.

T.P.