Turkey, Armenia sign historic deal
SWISTERLAD: Turkey and Armenia on Saturday signed historic pacts to
normalise relations and open their shared border, a first step to
reconciliation after a century of hostility over World War I-era
massacres.
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‘Gamata IT’ - focus on rural communities |
"This evening we witnessed a historic signing," said Phil Gordon, the
US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs after
a curtailed but eventful ceremony in the Swiss city of Zurich.
The deal sponsored by top European and US officials was only squeezed
through by a frenetic diplomatic scramble, after it was held up for more
than three hours by a "last minute hitch" over speeches the two sides
were to make after the signing, officials said.
Armenia's foreign ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan said there were
"unacceptable formulations for the Armenian side" in parts of a speech
to be delivered by Turkey's top diplomat, the Novosti-Armenia agency
reported.
"Suddenly the text was being discussed... once one raises a problem,
everybody raised problems," a Turkish official said. But Armenian
Foreign Minister Edouard Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet
Davutoglu ultimately shook hands after signing the two protocols at the
University of Zurich.
The two ministers and US, Russian, French and EU counterparts
immediately left the room instead of making scheduled statements, in an
agreement to bypass the hitch, diplomats said. Relations between NATO
member Turkey and Russian-backed Armenia have been severed since the
World War I mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule.
The bridge-building by the two governments after more than a year of
discrete Swiss-mediated talks is still hampered by fierce opposition
from critics at home. Stepan Safarian, a leading member of Armenia's
opposition Heritage party, told AFP that the protocols brought "a period
of great risks and big uncertainty."
Zurich, Sunday, AFP |
