Under the watchful eyes of the United States and Russia, Armenia and Turkey have finally signed two protocols which many hope will see the normalization of relations between the two neighbouring countries.

While most were enjoying a sunny afternoon in the Armenian capital, a few dozen members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Dashnaktsutyun (ARF-D) continued their round the clock hunger strike outside the main government building and the adjacent Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The nationalist party is staging the action to protest what many consider to be the likely signing of two protocols establishing diplomatic relations and opening up the country’s border closed by Turkey in 1993 as Armenia and Azerbaijan waged war over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Armenian forces currently control about 14 percent of Azerbaijan.

As the international community applauds the presidents of Armenia and Turkey for making unprecedented progress in attempts to normalize relations, others are not so ecstatic. Indeed, while many consider the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders between the two estranged neighbours as crucial in establishing peace and stability in the region, opposition to such a development was always going to materialize from some political forces within Armenia as well as its other foe, Turkish ally Azerbaijan.