Armenian-Turkish protocols must be implemented without delay. David Lidington, Minister of State at the UK Foreign Office, as Minister for Europe, made such statement in a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan, Monday.
The British minister reaffirmed London's support for normalizations of the Armenian-Turkish relations. In this light, Lidington welcomed Minister Nalbandian's attending the swearing-in ceremony of Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
To remind, the Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers signed the Armenian-Turkish Protocols in Zurich on October 10, 2009. The protocols were to be ratified by the two countries' parliaments. However, on 7 Dec 2009 Turkey laid down a number of preconditions, connecting the Armenian-Turkish normalization process with the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. On 22 April 2010, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan suspended the ratification process but did not remove the protocols from the Armenian Parliament's agenda. A number of high-ranking international officials have blamed Turkey for having wrecked the rapprochement process.