Turkish Parliament should ratify Armenia-Turkey Protocols first, Head of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) faction Galust Sahakyan stated at Jan. 20 press conference. According to him, it is irrational for Armenia to ratify the documents first, as it will not assist border opening; “Turkey closed the border and should open it itself,” he noted.

The MP is confident that despite the protraction of ratification process, Ankara will eventually do so, otherwise international community will take it as an unreliable partner which might entail a number of serious problems.

According to Sahakyan, presently Turkey faces many problems, first of all — Kurdish issue. However, the main reason for the ratification protraction lies in Azerbaijan’s stance, which Ankara fears to lose.

Once documents are ratified, Yerevan will open entirely different negotiation process on the Protocols’ provisions and creation of intergovernmental commission, Sahakyan outlined.

The sub-commission will not discuss Armenian Genocide, but the cultural heritage of Armenians on Turkey’s territory.

L.A.