Armenia "ready for diplomatic ties with Turkey without preconditions"December 11, 2018 - 14:15 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey but without any preliminary conditions concerning Nagorno Karabakh, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Monday, December 10, according to TASS. "We are ready to establish direct relations with Turkey without any preliminary conditions and hope that Turkey takes the same position," he said. "However relations with Turkey are linked with the problem of Nagorno Karabakh, and a third country. I mean Azerbaijan," he noted. While visiting Baku in September, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that relations with Armenia could not be improved until the Karabakh conflict was settled. He said Armenia should not count on opening the border with Turkey as long as "it is occupying 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory and is hampering the return of one million Azerbaijanis to their home land." Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |