Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers sign protocols (*)

October 11, 2009 – In Zurich, Switzerland, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian yesterday signed two protocols [Protocol on Development of Relations;Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations] that will move their two nations closer to normalization and establishment of diplomatic relations.

The Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey hosted the ceremony and, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union Javier Solana, and Council of Europe Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar also attended the ceremony standing with Ministers Davutoglu and Nalbandian in Zurich.

In the ensuing process, the Turkish and Armenian governments will submit the protocols to their respective parliaments for ratification.

Turkey and Armenia have been engaged in negotiations towards normalization of relations and, with the Swiss government’s assistance, they agreed on August 31 [Press Release of The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of The Republic of Turkey, The Republic of Armenia and The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs] to begin six weeks of internal political consultations on the protocols before their formal endorsement by the two foreign ministers yesterday.

(*) First published by the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey at Washington D.C., on October 11, 2009.