If RA Constitutional Court does not change its decision on the Protocols, the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation might be blocked, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the course of his visit to Saudi Arabia.

“RA CC acted secretly and naturally Turkey cannot accept secretly presented approaches. We introduced the signed Protocols to the parliament immediately without any changes. Not a single word was changed in the documents from our side, which shows our sincerity, unlike Armenia,” Erdogan said. “Unless this mistake is corrected, the process will be protracted. Armenia-Azerbaijani relations will be affected as well,” he underlined, adding that he stated this before the signing too. According to him, this position was also voiced during his meetings with Russian and U.S. presidents, “Relations with Armenia will be normalized, however the latter should put an end to occupation.”

January 19, Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing the decision of RA Constitutional Court on Armenia-Turkey Protocols. ‘This decision contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols. The said decision undermines the very reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their fundamental objective," the statement reads.

Yesterday Nalbandian stated that he intends to contact his counterpart Mr. Davutoglu, “to clarify where in the decision of the Constitutional Court of Armenia the Turkish side sees preconditions and how they contradict the very reason of the Protocols.” “I hope that by such statement the Turkish side is not attempting to justify its continuous efforts in laying down preconditions and cover up its needless delays in the ratification process,” he outlined.

A.G.