Washington - Armenian President Serzh Sargsian, who has kept a low profile during his visit to the US, received a telephone call of support from US President Barack Obama, the White House said late Tuesday.

Obama called Sargsian Monday to commend his efforts in normalizing relations with Turkey.

In late August, Turkey and Armenia agreed to resume diplomatic relations after decades of hostility.

Obama emphasized the US position that "talks should move forward without preconditions" and with due speed, the White House said. "President Obama pledged his full support for a process that would result in normalization of relations between the two countries and a brighter future for all involved," the White House said.

Sargsian met last week in New York and Los Angeles with small groups of Armenian-Americans in invitation-only gatherings, according to the Armenian Reporter newspaper.

Sargsian has met with protests from Armenians in the diaspora who object to the agreement, according to media reports from France. He also visited Russia and Lebanon to promote the agreement with Turkey.

Last week, a protest rally in Glendale, California, drew 10,000 people who denounced the normalization agreement. The major organizer of the rally was the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, a socialist organization, the Armenian Reporter wrote.

Under Swiss mediation, delegations from both countries have agreed to resume diplomatic relations and begin bilateral cooperation and political proceedings. The agreement was to be signed by the parliaments of both nations by mid-October.

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.

Turkey insists only 200,000 were killed and fiercely rejects suggestions that the killings were a genocide. While admitting that massacres did take place, Turkey says they did not constitute genocide but were instead the result of a civil uprising when Armenians joined forces with invading Russians.

President Abdullah Gul was the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia in 2008 when Sargsian invited him to the qualifying match between the countries for the 2010 Football World Cup. (dpa)