Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Thursday touted what he called Yerevan’s “dynamic dialogue” with Ankara, and said pursing international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not a “number one” foreign policy priority.
“International recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not our number one priority. Studying the tragic passages in history, the Armenian Genocide, or making it a number one priority is certainly not the agenda of the foreign ministry,” Mirzoyan told lawmakers in parliament on Thursday.
He said that ensuring peace and stability in the country was the number one priority for his foreign ministry, adding that one step being considered is the process of normalization of relations with Azerbaijan.
Mirzoyan made the statement in response to a question posed by Armenia faction lawmaker Armen Rustamyan, who asked him whether the settlement of the Artsakh conflict is on the foreign ministry’s agenda.
“When we say ‘the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,’ we mean the entire conflict that happened, on paper. Until a [peace] treaty is signed, it [the conflict] is not over. We all have our own ideas. I mean one thing by saying ‘Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,’ maybe you [mean] something else. We are currently working and our work has the following scope: ‘normalization of relations with Azerbaijan,’” Mirzoyan said in response to Rustamyan’s inquiry.
It was during the same session of the parliament that Mirzoyan also touted the so-called “dynamic dialogue” between Yerevan and Ankara.
He pointed out that the said dialogue with Turkey first and foremost is centered around the fact that the two countries should establish diplomatic relations, reopen their borders, which includes transport and other transit routes and “normalize their relations in general.”
Mirzoyan said that while previous focus was placed on the checkpoint on the Armenia-Turkey border at Magara, after the completion of the construction, which was unveiled earlier this year, “experts from the two countries” have directed their attention to assessing infrastructure issues related to the Kars-Gyumri border checkpoint.
Mirzoyan, however, lamented on Ankara’s ongoing effort to link the Armenia-Turkey normalization process to a peace deal between Yerevan and Baku.
“In our assessment, this is not a very constructive approach. We have the dialogue with Turkey without preconditions, we have specific agreements—at first, about partially [re]opening the border, etc. Here again I want to express optimism that we will have progress here in the near future,” Mirzoyan said.
The foreign minister added that the number one foreign policy priority of the Armenian government is to ensure the stability of peace around Armenia and development with its neighbors.
