Yerevan is skeptical about positive trends in normalization of  Armenian-Turkish relations in the foreseeable future

ArmInfo. Official Yerevan is skeptical about the positive trends in the normalization of theArmenian-Turkish relations in the foreseeable future.

For example, the press secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry  Tigran Balayan said at a briefing on July 2 whether the progress in  the relations between Armenia and Turkey could be expected, said that  the rhetoric sounding from Ankara does not inspire optimism on this  issue. According to him, proceeding from the aforesaid, no further  progress is expected in the foreseeable future.

Answering the question whether Armenia will congratulate the  President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan on winning the election,  Balayan noted that until 2014 Yerevan and Ankara formally exchanged  mutual congratulations in connection with official holidays and  important dates, however, after the coming to power of Erdogan, and  this practice ceased.

Turkey unilaterally broke off diplomatic relations with Armenia and  closed the border in 1993, officially saying this is "the occupation  of Azerbaijani regions by Armenian troops." The Turkish government  promises to open the border on condition that Armenia ceases to seek  international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and withdraws  troops from the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2009, the third  president of Armenia initiated a process to normalize relations with  Turkey without prejudice. In this regard, in Zurich on October 10,  2009, the Armenian-Turkish protocols were signed. However, the  protocols were never ratified by the parliaments of Armenia and  Turkey, since Ankara constantly put forward preconditions for  ratification. In this connection, the process of ratification of the  protocols in the Armenian parliament was frozen by order of the  President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. And in February 2015 they were  withdrawn from parliament. Even later, on March 1, 2018, Sargsyan  announced their denunciation, arguing that there was no positive  shift in their implementation.