A senior US official has called on Turkey and Armenia to ratify the protocols signed last year to normalize relations.
Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, told a press conference in Washington on Monday that Turkey and Armenia need to move forward in ratifying and implementing the protocols signed last October on establishing diplomatic relations.
"We believe this is an opportunity to overcome really historic differences between the two countries in a way that would benefit both," Gordon said.
"To establish normalized relations between the two countries and open the border would contribute to peace and stability in the region, and we think that is true regardless of other issues - that it needs to move forward independently of other issues, simply because it is in the interest of the two countries," he said.
Gordon said that US government was in touch with both governments and that the Obama administration encouraged them to move forward.
"Turkey-Armenia normalization is a good thing in and of itself and it should move forward because of that," he added.
TurkNet