Hurriyet Daily News: Davutoglu’s Yerevan visit may be prelude for normalization talks
Officials in Ankara have cautioned against high expectations for Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s upcoming visit to estranged neighbor Armenia, but indicated that there was a chance for “normalization” to follow in the future, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.
Even if it does not yield any concrete outcomes, the trip will still mark a watershed, as it will be Davutoglu’s first visit to Yerevan since the failure of efforts to normalize ties four years ago.
Turkish officials, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News on Dec. 9, said it was still not clear whether Davutoğlu and his Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandian, would hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BSEC gathering.
“We are not going there with a specific proposal,” a senior Turkish diplomat told the Daily News, in an apparent reference to several news reports in the Turkish media suggesting that Turkey would offer a proposal to the Armenian side in exchange for reopening the border. “Furthermore, such a proposal would also be premature and wrong,” added the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“However, if such a bilateral meeting takes place, we will explain our vision with regard to regional peace, including normalization of our bilateral relations. Then, the steps that could be taken may come on the scene,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials also said Davutoğlu had no plans to visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial while on the visit to Yerevan.
“The minister is going to Yerevan within the framework of a BSEC meeting. Visiting the monument is not on his agenda,” the diplomat said.
The need for such an explanation came from reported remarks by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, who recently recommended that Davutoglu “visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial to pay a silent tribute to the memory of the victims.”