Updates:
* Journalists are being allowed back into the hall where the protocols are expected to be signed, according to Turkish TV channels.
* According to Hurriyet Daily News, Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandian wanted to refer to the 1915 killings of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as “genocide” in the statement, considered an attempt to appease the Armenian Diaspora and opposition in Armenia. The Turkish side, on the other hand, wanted to refer to the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict in the statement, something Armenia says has nothing to do with the normalization of ties with Turkey. Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that the Turkish side renewed the text and handed it over to the U.S. delegation.
* A new draft of the statement to be issued by the signatories has been brought to the hotel where discussion are being held.
*According to Anadolu News Agency, the disagreements have been resolved and the signing of the protocols will take place very soon.
*All sides of the protocols are slowly returning to the University of Zurich, reported SkyTurk. The protocol will be signed at 9 p.m., said the Armenian Foreign Ministry, according to Turkish broadcaster NTV.
*According to AP, Clinton engaged in last-minute diplomacy aimed at salvaging an accord to establish diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia after a century of enmity. “She’s involved in working out an agreeable text,” said a senior U.S. State Department official. “She’s talking with the Armenian foreign minister, and she had a long talk with the Turkish foreign minister.”
HYE, WHAT DID THE ARMENIAN LEADERSHIP EXPECT FROM THE TURK? THE TURK WHO HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN ANY FOREIGN RELATIONS OF CONSEQUENCE WITH OTHER NATIONS? AND, WITH THE ARMENIANS, WHOSE PEOPLES THEY MURDERED AND FORCED FROM THEIR LANDS OF OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS? SURPRISE, SURPRISE… THE INEPT AND INEXPERIENCED ARMENIAN LEADERSHIP TURNED TO OTHERS, BEYOND ALL THE ARMENIAN
INTELLIGENTIA, TO SEEK DIRECTION… FOOLISH, FOOLISH.
WE SHALL GAIN OUR STRENGTHS NOT FROM OTHERS – WE WILL GAIN OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD WHEN WE LEARN TO TRUST ONE ANOTHER – FOR WE ARE ONE PEOPLE – ARMENIANS IN THE HOMELAND, THE ARMENIANS WHOSE SURVIVOR PARENTS, GRANDPARENTS FLED – AND YET – WHO SERVE OUR HOMELAND – BETTER THAN THE TURKISH LEADERSHIP! AMOT! IN THE MEMORIES OF ALL WHO WERE SLAUGHTERED, ALL WHO WERE FORCED TO LEAVE OUR LANDS TO LEARN TO LIVE IN THE FOREIGN LANDS – IN THE MEMORY OF SARDARAD, WHICH WON US THE ARMENIA OF TODAY… TURK LEADERS ARE NOT YET JOINED TO CIVILIZED WORLD.
Manooshag