Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu claimed that Armenia is “very content” with prospects of normalizing relations with Turkey.
He commented on last week’s meeting between special envoys of Turkey and Armenia, Serdar Kilic and Ruben Rubinyan, who met in Moscow to kick start talks to normalize ties between Ankara and Yerevan.
“The objective [of the process] is full normalization. The Armenians are also very content with this,” Çavuşoğlu said on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting, according to Hurriyet Daily News, which reported on the Turkish foreign minister’s comments on Thursday—two full days later.
Rubinyan told parliament on Tuesday that the normalization process will be a long road and it depends on the Turkey’s commitment to it. Following his meeting with Kilic on January 14, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries issued identical announcements saying that the sides had agreed to further discussions “without preconditions.”
“In the first meeting of the special envoys, the objectives of the negotiations and expectations from this process were discussed. The special envoys, in their next meeting, will work on which steps could be taken following the resumption of flights,” Çavuşoğlu said referencing an agreement by Yerevan and Ankara ahead of the talks to begin charters flights between Yerevan and Istanbul. The first such flights are scheduled to begin on February 2.
The two special envoys will continue to discuss what other confidence-building measures can be taken to strengthen the existing political process.
Cavusoglu also extended invitation to Armenia to take part in a diplomatic forum in Antalyan, Turkey in March. He said representatives Greece, Cyprus, and Israel were among those invited to the event.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has received and continues to receive invitations to participate in various events, including the Antalya Diplomacy Forum this year, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan told Armenpress.
“The Foreign Ministry of Armenia is discussing the appropriateness of the minister’s participation in the aforementioned events in accordance with the respective procedures. The public will be properly informed about the decisions to be made,” he said.
Meanwhile the Turkish Sabah daily claimed that Turkish diplomatic sources have signaled to the paper that they did not want the next meeting between the Ankara and Yerevan envoys to take place in a third country and they want it to take place either in Armenia or Turkey.her in Armenia or in Turkey.
