YEREVAN. - Armenian-Turkish reconciliation and the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process have never been locked in stalemate, said head of the Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan on Wednesday, as he commented on the opinion that both the processes have reached stalemate.

The Armenian-Turkish process was frozen on Armenia’s initiative and “the ball is in Turkey’s court” now, Grigoryan added.

“Armenia made serious concessions by signing the Armenian-Turkish protocols. The very fact of Armenia recognizing the present-day Armenian-Turkish border is an achievement for Turkey. However, Ankara decided to go further and get the most out of it, namely, progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, which caused the current situation in the Armenian-Turkish process,” Grigoryan said.

Both Yerevan and Ankara will benefit from reconciliation. In this context, the process will be resumed after the parliamentary elections in Armenia and Turkey, the expert added.

As regards the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, Grigoryan said it is rather successful. The most important thing is that the Azerbaijani president put his signature to the document indicating peoples’ right to self-determination as one of the settlement principles. Further progress requires building up confidence between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The sides’ agreement to withdraw snipers from the line of contact, timely exchange of POWs and an end to anti-Armenian rhetoric may facilitate progress, the expert said.