Armenia scraps deal with Turkey designed to normalise relations

Yerevan: Armenia on Thursday scrapped a peace agreement it signed with Turkey in 2009 in what turned out to be a failed attempt to normalise relations between the two countries, Armenian Yerkir Media TV quoted the president’s spokesman as saying.

“Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan told a national security council meeting that the Armenian-Turkish protocols were annulled,” Yerkir Media TV quoted Vladimir Hakobyan as saying.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan wrote on social media that President Sargsyan has declared the Armenia-Turkey protocols “null and void.”

Armenia and Turkey signed the landmark peace accord in October 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after a century of hostility stemming from the World War One mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces.

The protocols have not been ratified since then.