Yerevan /Mediamax/. Today is the 5th anniversary of Armenian-Turkish Protocols.

Upon the initiative of the Armenian President, a new phase of Armenian-Turkish relations started in 2008 and as a result, Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoglu signed the “Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey” and “Protocol on Development of Relations between of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey” in Zurich, on October 10, 2009.

After the protocols were signed, Turkey changed its position and rejected to implement the agreement on the normalization of relations within a “reasonable timeframe” and without any preconditions, linking the ratification of the Protocols in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Considering the situation created by Turkey, as well as the call of the Political Council of the parties of Armenia’s ruling coalition, the Armenian President signed a decree on the suspension of the process of ratifications of the Protocols on April 22, 2010.

Addressing a speech at the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly in September this year, the Armenian President said that official Yerevan seriously considers recalling Armenian-Turkish protocols from the National Assembly.

Retired Swiss diplomat Michael Ambuhl who is one of the main participants of the process told Mediamax about the origins of “football diplomacy”, how Switzerland assumed the role of a mediator, the negotiation environment and works aimed at the protocols in the “Special File” project of Mediamax.