Armenia says political will key in normalization with Turkey

PanARMENIAN.Net - Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan believes that political will and readiness to undertake concrete steps are necessary in order to achieve normalization between Armenia and Turkey.

In an interview with WION, Mirzoyan said that the Armenian side has repeatedly demonstrated both and expects the same from Turkey.

"The border between Armenia and Turkey was unilaterally closed by Turkey in the early 1990s and the two countries do not have diplomatic relations. As you probably know, Special representatives have been appointed now for the normalization process and three meetings have already been held where the sides decided to move forward without any preconditions with the goal of opening the borders. To give a positive dynamic to that process I recently accepted the Turkish Foreign Minister’s invitation and travelled to Turkey to participate in the Antalya Diplomatic Forum and met with my counterpart on the margins of the Forum," Mirzoyan said.

"Despite all the risks and the fragility, there is a chance for opening an era of peaceful development in our region, and Armenia will continue its efforts to contribute to the realization of that chance."

Turkey and Armenia last December named special envoys to discuss the normalization of ties. Two rounds of talks followed on January 14, February 24 and then on May 3.