U.S. believes Turkey and Armenia will continue efforts in normalizing bilateral relations, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, commenting on Serzh Sargsyan’s decision to suspend Protocols’ ratification.

“President Sargsyan’s announcement makes clear that Armenia has not ended the process but has suspended it until the Turkish side is ready to move forward. We applaud President Sargsyan’s decision to continue to work towards a vision of peace, stability and reconciliation,” he said in Friday briefing.

U.S. is confident that “normalization process carries important benefits for Turkey and Armenia as well as the wider Caucasus region.”
“We will continue to urge both sides to keep the door open to pursuing efforts at reconciliation and normalization,” Crowley noted.

RA President’s statement was made two days after his meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev. However, Crowley considers that these two processes should be separated, though he “wouldn’t rule any outside influences into this.”
“I don’t think we’re surprised by the announcement by President Sargsyan. We had intensive meetings with the Armenians and the Turks here in Washington. We’ve had ongoing contacts with Azerbaijan as well. And we understand that there’s – we had – that both sides had reached a – I won’t say impasse, but kind of reached a hurdle in the process regarding the ratification of the protocols. I think we’re encouraged that neither side has walked away from the process, but I think we all recognize that we’ll just need some time to perhaps create some new momentum that allows the process to move forward. So I think this is something that the Armenians had hinted to us that they were prepared to do, and so we’re not surprised by the announcement,” he stated.
According to him, both countries got a message to go ahead during the Nuclear Security Summit. “Keep the process going; if you don’t think that this is the right time, that’s fine, we’ll step back and reevaluate how to move forward. So that’s why Phil Gordon made the comments in Tallinn today that these are encouraging steps in the sense that both sides remain committed to seeking normalization because it is in – they recognize, I think, that it is in, ultimately, their collective interest to do this,” U.S. official added.

RA President Serzh Sargsyan declared of Armenia-Turkey Protocols’ ratification suspension, as Turkey adopted destructive stance and protracts normalization process.

A.G.