Armenia backpedals on normalisation of ties with Turkey

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan decided Monday to withdraw the two protocols on normalization of relations with Turkey from the parliament.
Over the last six years the two documents remained as mere ink on paper after they were signed in 2009 due to "lack of political will" on the Turkish side, he said in a letter to Parliament Speaker Galust Sahakyan.
He accused the Turkish officials of planting obstacles and raising additional preconditions for the establishment of diplomatic ties after a century-long tense relations, according to an Anadolu Agency report. While reaffirming readiness to settle the relations, the Armenian leader said "we were also ready for failure." On April 22, 2010, the Armenian president ordered freezing the ratification of the two US-backed protocols amid traded accusations on the 100th anniversary of the deadly events which began in 1915.