Switzerland confirms Turkey and Armenia to sign accords

Oct 9, 2009, 19:46 GMT

Geneva - Turkey and Armenia will sign a set of protocols in Zurich on Saturday that will lead towards the renewal of diplomatic relations between the two countries that have endured years of hostility.

The deal, negotiated by the Swiss, was announced six weeks ago. The confirmation that the signing event would go ahead came in late Friday from Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edouard Nalbandian and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will sign the two protocols in the presence of Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey at an event Saturday afternoon.

Also attending the ceremony will be United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

Samuel Zbogar, the Slovenian foreign minister and the chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, will be present along with the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Ankara and Yerevan broke off relations in 1993 when Turkey closed its border with Armenia after it invaded the Azerbaijan territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

But the animosity goes backs decades further to what Armenia alleges was the genocide of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Turks during World War I, a charge Ankara denies.

The protocols to be signed call for the renewal of diplomatic ties, the opening of the common border and the establishment of a historical commission to investigate the events during World War I.

The agreements would then have to be passed by the two countries' parliaments.

Switzerland said it acted 'as mediator in the process to normalize bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey for over a year.'