YEREVAN–Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday denied being invited by Turkey to participate in six-party talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict set for the coming weeks, Armenpress reported.
According to Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tigran Balayan, the Armenian side is not aware of the talks.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Wednesday told reporters that an “all-encompassing” meeting on peace efforts in the south Caucasus will kick off in a few weeks. The summit, he said, would include Turkey, the United States, Russia, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Armenia and will focus on the normalization of Armenia-Turkey and Armenia-Azeri relations.
“Turkey is interested in a resolution to the Karabakh conflict and the world’s attention to this process is rising,” Babacan was quoted by the Turkish Hurriyet newspaper as saying Wednesday. “Negotiations will start in several weeks, but dates of joint discussions on regional issues will be identified once all six countries – U.S., Russian, Switzerland, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia – come to agreement on these through diplomatic channels.”
“We seek normalization of relations not only between Turkey and Armenia, but between Baku and Yerevan as well,” Babacan reportedly said.
