Turkey signs normalization with Armenia, Azerbaijan con

The event called historical worldwide took place in Zurich Saturday. Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu signed the Armenian-Turkish normalization protocols. Anyway, not everyone evaluates this as positive…

“Prior to the signing ceremony, rumor was spread over the possible non-signing of the protocols. The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had arrived at the site of the ceremony, suddenly returned to the hotel. Later it came known the parties were unable to reach an accord over the statements to follow the signing ceremony. The Armenian delegation was discontented with the remarks over Nagorno-Karabakh issue to be arisen in the statement, and the Turkish party expressed discontent with regard to the “Armenian Genocide” expression. After long discussions, the parties agreed to make no statements at all. Shaking hands and smiling at the cameras, the foreign ministers left the Zurich University building following the signing ceremony,” Moskovsky Komsomolets says.

As one could have expected, the signing of Armenian-Turkish protocols faced the negative appraisal of the Azerbaijani party. “Armenia-Turkey normalization prior to the withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the Azerbaijani occupied territories contradicts to Azerbaijan’s national interests and blows shade on the amiable relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey,” Azerbaijani MFA statement said.

In his turn, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who was attending the signing ceremony, hailed the event. “Russia is ready to back the process by carrying out cooperation programs with Armenia and Turkey, firstly, in the spheres of energy and communication,” Russian FM said.

According to the protocols, the parties agreed to open the border within two months, establish diplomatic relations, as well as trade and economic cooperation. However, so that all this comes real, the parliaments of two countries should validate the protocols. Though, even in case they are validated, will Armenia and Turkey be able to hold a dialogue? The oppositions to raise among the Armenian and Turkish people, who are not very delighted by the signing of the protocols, may cause instability in the region, experts think.