ArmInfo. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan is confident that it is Turkish side that should be applied to in respect to the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara .
"To my regret, this question should not be addressed to me. Because yet in 2008 we offered Turks to add a publicity to that slowly proceeding negotiations process, and already in 2009 reached signing two protocols in Zurich, within the presence of three Foreign Ministers of UN Security Council member countries," Serzh Sargsyan stated in his interview to Dmitri Kiselev, Rossia Segodnya media.
He also stated with regret that after a while it became obvious that Turks are not ready to ratify these Protocols and, actually, are not ready to establish new relations with Armenia without any preconditions. One of those preconditions was that Armenia should force Karabakh to return at list one of so called "occupied" regions to Azerbaijan. "I.e. a part of the "security zone". And after that Turks will be ready to open the border and to establish diplomatic relations. As far as both signed protocols set forth the establishment of relations without any preconditions, our response was "...we are sorry, but You should state this before signing, i.e. during the negotiation process. And after that we have no relations with Turks. If we meet somewhere at international forums, we just greet each other and that is all," President Sargsyan stated.
At that, he agreed with the necessity to move forward. " Of course. What else should we do? Yes, before 2009 even some our friends told that we are complicated with the Genocide issue, that we don't want to have any relations with Turks unless they adjudicate Armenian Genocide. But we took that path anyway. You cold imagine my feelings when I visited many countries at that time, having meetings with representatives of Diaspora. In Paris, new-York, Beirut thousands of people came out against Armenian President demanding not to sign that Protocols. I asked them, I ensured them. And the result is that the protocols are signed but they do not work. And what else should we do? To accept their ultimatums and to say "Yes, let's give up the security zone?" And Turkey will unblock the border? But what will come next? If some new conflict happens after three months, half a year or a year, they will block it again. I use to say that any wedding and any new family creation needs a mutual agreement," Sargsyan resumed.
To note, Armenian-Turkish were signed in Zurich on October 10, 2009. But those Protocols has not been ratified by Armenian and Turkish Parliaments due to the preconditions constantly set out by Ankara. In 2015 protocols were revoked from Armenian Parliament.