The three parties that form a majority in Armenia's parliament are halting ratification of a landmark accord on normalising relations with Turkey, they said in a statement on Thursday. The statement said 'the Turkish side is refusing to ratify the protocols without preconditions and in a reasonable timeframe.' 'We believe it is necessary to halt this process and remove discussions of this question from the agenda... of the National Assembly until the Turkish side is prepared to continue the process without preconditions,' it said. Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark deal in October to establish diplomatic relations and reopen their border after decades of hostility. But parliamentary ratification of the deal has stalled in both countries over the contentious issue of World War I-era massacres of Armenians under Ottoman Turkey, which Yerevan insists constituted genocide. Another sticking point is Turkey's support for Armenia's foe Azerbaijan in their dispute over the rebel Nagorny Karabakh region. 