ANP - Ararat News & Publishing

EU TO HELP ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT

Ararat News-Publishing (ANP) – Brussels, Fiona Lorin, Roni Alasor - 12 February 2010 – EU should intervene with all possible instruments, including a high-level visit to Armenia and Turkey, in order to urge both sides to ratify the protocols without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe. This call for action was made by Europe-Armenia Advisory Council to ask key European actors to be more involved in the rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey.

In open letter addressed to the President of the European parliament Jerzy Buzek, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, baroness Ashton, the Chair of the EP’s foreign affairs committee, Gabriele Albertini, the EU special representative for the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, and the Chair of the EP’s South Caucasus delegation, Milan Cabrnoch, the members of Europe-Armenia Advisory Council called upon all EU Institutions to intervene with all possible instruments, including a high-level visit to the region, in order to urge both Armenia and Turley to ratify the protocols without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe, which should not exceed two months. All regional actors, and especially Azerbaijan, should contribute constructively to the ongoing negotiations process and all parties involved will not turn to populism during the historic process of re-establishing ties between Turkey and Armenia.

The Europe-Armenia Advisory Council also appreciated the statement of the US State Department welcoming the Armenian Constitutional Court’s ruling on the Armenia-Turkey protocols and called upon all relevant European institutions to issue a similar statement, underlining that this court ruling freed the way for the protocols' ratification in Armenia and must not be misused by any party as a pretext to derail the ratification process. The Armenian government and the Armenian Diaspora around the world should resist the Turkish government's new attempt to link the ratification of the protocols to the international recognition of the Armenian genocide, states the letter.

The Europe-Armenia Advisory Council is a distinctive body created by EuFoA (www.eufoa.org) to promote relations between Europe and Armenia. Composed of leading European representatives from the political, business and cultural spheres from across Europe, it provides guidance on all major issues in these fields.