The United States has "placed a great deal of emphasis" on Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, Philip Crowley, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, told a press briefing, as he answered a question about the U.S. steps after Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stated that the normalization process with Turkey is dead.

"The Secretary herself has been fully engaged in this. We have understood for a number of months that there have been obstacles to progress. We will continue to engage Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and see how we can move forward," he said.

Armenian News-NEWS.am reminds readers that, on October 10, 2009, in Zurich, the Armenian and Turkish FMs signed protocols on establishing diplomatic relations and developing bilateral relations. The Armenian and Turkish Parliaments were to ratify the protocols.

However, on December 7, 2009, Turkey linked Armenian-Turkish reconciliation to settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. During his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan stated that Ankara would not ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols as long as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remained unsettled. On April 22, 2010, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree suspending the ratification process.