Who will ratify first Turkish-Armenian cooperation protocols?

The ruling Republican Party in Armenia has announced that Armenia should make the first move in ratifying the Turkey-Armenia protocols. Vice Speaker of Armenia’s Parliament Samvel Nikoian has said that ratification cannot be simultaneous, and if Armenia waits for Turkey to take the first steps it could be waiting a long time. He also highlighted that normalisation of the relations between the two countries will create a positive atmosphere in the entire region which could result in the positive resolution of the Karabakh conflict to the benefit of Armenia.

Committees of the Armenian Parliament will begin discussing this issue. Initially Armenia insisted that it would start ratifying the protocols only after Turkey did, and if Turkey prolonged the process so would Armenia. Yerevan also threatened to renounce the signature of the Armenian PM on the protocols, which were signed on November 10, 2009 in Zurich, if this happened.

It looks like Armenia desperately wants to ratify the protocols and open its borders with Turkey and will therefore do its best to make this happen. Turkey could take advantage to this desire by trying to force Armenia to leave the Azeri territories it is occupying. Whether this happens will depend on how deep Turkey's commitment to Azerbaijan is.