YEREVAN, October 11 (RIA Novosti) – The signing of historic accords between Armenia and Turkey provides a chance to have confidence in the future, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbanian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu signed protocols on diplomatic relations and on bilateral relations Saturday at Zurich University. The documents are still to be ratified by parliaments amid continued fierce opposition from nationalist parties in both countries.
“The signing of protocols became a logical result of the Armenian president’s initiative aimed at restoring relations between the two neighboring countries without preliminary conditions,” the Armenian ministry said.
“Everyday intensive talks have made it possible to find the key that is to open the lock and grant the two states an unprecedented opportunity to step into the future with confidence,” it said.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday the deals were “an important step,” but added that Turkey will not open its border with Armenia until Armenia and another ex-Soviet republic, Azerbaijan, settle their dispute over the Nagorny Karabakh region.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for Muslim ally Azerbaijan, following a bloody conflict over Nagorny Karabakh between the two republics.
Turkey has also demanded that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as genocide.
Armenia and Turkey agreed to a “roadmap” to normalize their relations under Swiss mediation this April. The draft pact between the countries had been backed by the United States and European Union.
Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government and is de facto independent.