Despite Baku’s and Ankara’s Belligerence, Yerevan Says Peace Treaty with Azerbaijan is a “Priority”
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will participate in a diplomatic forum to be held in Antalya, Turkey later this month, the ministry’s spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan said in a social media post on Monday.
“We would like to inform that Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum,” he said.
An invitation to Armenia was touted by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu soon after special envoys from Ankara and Yerevan met in Moscow, for the first time, to discuss the process of normalization of ties between the two countries. The two envoys, Serdar Kilic and Ruben Rubinyan met on February 24 in Vienna for a second time in talks described and positive and more substantive.
Until last week, official Yerevan said that a decision had not been made about Yerevan’s participation in the Antalya event.
Despite numerous statements both from Yerevan and Baku that talks on normalization of relations are proceeding “without preconditions,” Ankara continued its veiled efforts to set terms for Yerevan.
At a news conference after his meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Friday, Cavusolgo said the implementation of the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” was important, as he praised the coordination of normalization talks with Baku.
Hunanyan called Cavusoglu’s assertions about the so-called “Zangezur Corridor” “perplexing.” However, he added, “the opening of regional connections is also among the priorities of the government, and concrete steps are being taken in this direction, including within the framework of the ‘Armenian Crossroads’ project.”
“Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s position is based on international principles. When Armenia’s leadership and society realize that what is good for Azerbaijan and Turkey will not be bad for Armenia, then relations will develop,” Bayramov said at a press conference on Friday.
Bayramov also brought up a Baku-proposed peace treaty with Armenia. Similarly, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in asking for France’s support on this initiative, repeated Baku’s position of such a deal.
Of course, the deal Baku is proposing stems from its ongoing belief that the Karabakh conflict ended with Azerbaijan’s aggressive attack on Artsakh, which was supported by Turkey.
Hunanyan told Armenpress on Monday that signing a peace treaty with Azerbaijan remained a priority for Yerevan as he continued to advance the government’s plan of “peace in the region.”
“The government of Armenia adopted a strategy of opening an era of peaceful development for Armenia and the region and naturally signals readiness to take steps in that direction,” Hunanyan told Armenpress. “Regarding specifically the signing of a peace treaty: it has been announced several times on the highest level that this is one of the agenda priorities of the government.”
