Genocide, NKR, Sticking Points in Protocol Signing
[ 2009/10/11 | 12:14 ]
Reports in the Turkish press claim that the last minute snag in yesterday’s protocol signing occurred when the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia objected to certain points that the other would make during the post-signing ceremony.
In his speech, Nalbandian wanted to refer to the 1915 killings of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire by using the word “genocide,” considered as an attempt to relax the Armenian diaspora and the opposition in Armenia. The Turkish side, on the other hand, wanted to refer to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, something Armenia says has nothing to do with the normalization of ties with Turkey.
It was later announced that the signing ceremony was delayed for an indefinite time but there were ongoing negotiations over the wording of the verbal statements.
While the delegations were returning to the University of Zurich, Nalbandian was still absent and instead, Armenian Ambassador to Switzerland Charles Aznavour was present, raising questions if the protocols would be signed at the level of the two countries’ ambassadors to Switzerland or the foreign ministers.
