Eurasia Press & News
Armenian Foreign Ministry officials have blamed Turkey for failing to bring into effect protocols that were signed a year ago, as the Turkish-Armenian border is still closed and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remains a source of friction, the online edition of Turkish Hurriyet daily writes.
“A political battle continues between Turkey and Armenia. The U.S., the European Union and Russia made promises to Armenia, but betrayed us. The protocols are a political fiasco from the Armenian viewpoint,” Levon Zurabian, a key figure of the Armenian National Congress, told the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review in a recent interview.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry says it holds Turkey responsible for the protocols having not yet come into force while Armenia remains ready for dialogue without precondition. Armenian President Serge Sarkisian also announced in April a unilateral freeze of the protocols because Turkey had not delivered what it promised.
Excitement for reconciliation between the countries peaked a year ago when Turkey and Armenia signed historic protocols to begin working toward opening the border and re-establishing official relations. The signing ceremony, however, was tense and required international mediators to broker a last-minute deal.
