Erevan (Reuters) – Armenia on Thursday suspended the ratification of the peace agreements with Turkey, which overthrew the US-led efforts to end a century of hostilities between neighboring countries.
Armenia, with Christian roots, and Muslim Turkey signed agreements in October last year to establish diplomatic relations and open its borders in an attempt to overcome the legacy of the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in the First World War.
However, the process had been bogged down before Thursday”s decision, as each party accused the other of trying to rewrite the treaty and setting new conditions.
None of the two parliaments approved the treaty, which would generate huge economic benefits for the impoverished Armenia, at the same time improving the credentials of Turkey as a candidate for membership in the Union and boost its European presence in the South Caucasus.
Analysts said the ruling Armenian, two days before the 95th anniversary of the massacre was not the end of the road, but an attempt to pressure Turkey.
Armenia was angered by comments by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who said that ratification was dependent on its neighbor to reach an agreement with Azerbaijan, a close ally Turkey and energy partner for the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We have decided (…) not abandon the process at the moment, but to suspend the ratification of the protocols. We which is in the best interest of our country, “Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan.
Armenia remain the signature of the agreements” because we want peace, “Bush said in a message to country.
“We will consider further when we are convinced that therd97e is a proper environment in Turkey and that there is leadership in Ankara to re-engage in the standardization process,” said Sarksyan.
Erdogan said Turkey remained committed to the process. “We have frequently expressed our commitment to the protocols in the word and spirit, and our goal to meet them,” he said.
Department of State The United States said it was not surprised by the announcement of Armenia and that he believed the peace process would continue.
(Additional reporting by Ibon Villelabeitia in Ankara and Tulay Karadeniz, Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul and Andrew Quinn in Washington; writing by Matt Robinson and Ibon Villelabeitia, editing by Juan Jose Lagorio Spanish)