Forecast: Ankara`s revision of its position on the normalization of  relations with Armenia until the spring of 2018 is unlikely

ArmInfo.Ankara's revision of its position on the normalization of relations with Armenia until the spring of 2018 is unlikely, predicts the director of the Institute of  Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Professor Ruben Safrastyan.

"I do not think that the statement of the Armenian leadership  according to which Armenia will meet the spring of 2018 without  protocols in the parliament can have a sobering effect on the Turkish  colleagues." The Turks began to seek ways to exert pressure on  Armenia by signing the Zurich protocols, it is about nominating the  resolution of the Karabakh conflict as Therefore, the recent  statement by Cavusoglu does not contain anything new in itself,  everything became clear immediately after signing the protocols,  "Safrastyan said.

On December 13, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian announced  Armenia's readiness to "meet the spring of 2018 without the  Armenian-Turkish protocols," explaining this by the groundlessness of  the preconditions put forward by Ankara, contradicting the essence of  the protocols. On December 14, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkish Foreign  Minister, announced Ankara's commitment to the Armenian-Turkish  protocols, describing the statements of the Armenian counterpart as  "not reflecting reality and aimed at misleading the international  community." According to the estimations of the Turkologist, it is  Turkey who shies away from the Zurich agreements, while stressing at  the same time the commitment to normalization of the Armenian-Turkish  relations and the archival importance of the Karabakh problem.  Safrastyan is convinced that Ankara's refusal to ratify the protocols  is known throughout the world. In this light, the Turkologist  characterizes the statements of the head of the Turkish Foreign  Ministry as a falsification of reality.

On October 10, 2009 in Zurich Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers  signed the "Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations"  and the "Protocol on the Development of Bilateral Relations." The  documents should be ratified by the parliaments of the two countries,  however, on April 22, 2010, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, having  signed the decree on suspension of ratification of the protocols,  actually froze this process .