Armenian-Turkish relations depend on progress in the Karabakh settlement and this already is not only what the Turkish side says, but also what international experts say.

In a recent interview with the French Le Figaro newspaper Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan also confirmed that “Turkey continues to tie the ratification [of the Armenian-Turkish protocols] to different preconditions, and the main of them is the issue Nagorno-Karabakh.”

Director of the European program of the International Crisis Group Sabina Fraiser, speaking at the 73rd NATO Rose-Roth seminar in Yerevan on Friday about the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols being conditioned by the Karabakh issue, said: “The point is neither about the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the controlled territories, nor about a framework agreement, but about a small step forward.”

It is not the first time that the statement about a “small step” is heard within expert circles. True, no one has yet specified what is it that the matter concerns if it is not the withdrawal of troops and signing of an agreement.

“Any solution to the Karabakh conflict must ensure an interim status for Karabakh that would provide it with guarantees of security, a progressive return of territories as well as the return of the population that lived in Karabakh before the start of the war, the preservation of a corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, the presence of international forces that would help keep the peace,” French co-chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group Bernard Fassier said in Yerevan.

In Karabakh, meanwhile, the side of Karabakh Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulyan stated after the meeting with OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Joao Soares that Karabakh officially did not receive the Madrid principles of Karabakh conflict settlement.

“In Karabakh, naturally, we know about the principles, as last year the document was published and there is no secret here,” stated Ghulyan.

Nevertheless, in Stepanakert they decided to take steps aimed at strengthening the army and Karabakh’s joining the negotiations.

A meeting of the NKR Security Council chaired by NKR President Bako Sahakyan took place on March 12 and dealt with the implementation of a number of planned measures in the spheres of army building and rescue service… Bako Sahakyan noted that the restoration of a full format of the negotiating process with the participation of Karabakh as a full party is one of the key components of conflict settlement.

According to French mediator Fassier, the desire of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to take part in the negotiations that concern their vital interests is quite just, however it may happen only when all residents of Karabakh, including those who lived there before the start of the conflict, return to the places of their former residence.

“At some moment Nagorno-Karabakh dropped out of the negotiations and now it is both sides that should give consent to its return,” concluded the French diplomat.