YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The ratification of Armenia-Turkey protocols will be the first step towards Armenia's ruin: the country will lose all the resources for its future development, Head of Modus Vivendi Center Ara Papian expressed an opinion at the October 5 press conference, adding that he can prove all what he said by providing facts and he invited the Armenian foreign minister to a television debate to be broadcast live. In the words of A. Papian, the protocols are interstate legal documents which must comply with or at least not conflict with the current legislation, the Constitution, and international law. He said that under the Constitution, the Republic of Armenia must support the recognition of the Armenian Genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire. Whereas, according to him, by the pre-signed protocols, the sides shall not conduct a policy incompatible with good-neighborly relations. "In other words, any political step of Armenia aimed at recognizing the Genocide, even at its commemoration, comes into conflict with the obligation stipulated in the protocol," A. Papian said. In his opinion, the protocols are full of not only preconditions, but also obligations. One of these obligations is that the sides shall respect the inviolability of borders. "That is, they shall respect the inviolability of borders and ensure a respect for it in international and bilateral relations. We are signing a bilateral document, but we are assuming international obligations. This point can be definitely interpreted in the following way: Armenia is assuming an obligation to guarantee the inviolability of the borders of a third country, i.e. of Azerbaijan," A. Papian said. Besides, according to him, the protocols have not undergone the whole procedure envisaged by the Armenian legislation so their pre-signing was carried out without the presigning-related procedure established by law. "The pre-signing of the protocols on the development of relations between Armenia and Turkey is invalid, therefore the protocols are not subject to signing. Their signing will be an illegal step," Ara Papian concluded.

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