Yesterday by the initiative of the Armenian side a telephone conversation was held between the foreign affairs ministers of Armenia and Turkey Edward Nalbandyan and Ahmet Davutoglu, during which the parties discussed the complaints of the foreign affairs ministry of Turkey regarding the January 12 verdict of the Constitutional Court of Armenia. Let’s remember that in a statement on Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry construed this as “preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the Protocols.” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stood by this claim during the phone call with his Armenian counterpart, Eduard Nalbandyan. A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman was reported to say that Davutoglu also claimed that the ratification process is at a far more advanced stage in Turkey than in Armenia. According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Nalbandyan told Davutoglu that such statements are “creating the impression of a search for artificial pretexts” for Turkey’s refusal to establish diplomatic relations and open its border with Armenia. A ministry statement said he urged the Turks to stick to “the letter and spirit of the protocols” and “move forward fast.” It said Nalbandyan insisted that the Constitutional Court ruling only testifies to the Armenian side’s desire to have them implemented “without undue delays.” Yesterday the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Yerevan will seriously harm the normalization process unless it “corrects” the Armenian court’s interpretation of the two Turkish-Armenian protocols that were signed in October.
