Your trusted source

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan has answered the questions of Armenpress news agency.

Question: When and where is the next meeting of the special envoys of Armenia and Turkey scheduled?

Answer: There is a preliminary understanding between the sides that the next meeting may take place in Vienna. As soon as the date and the place of the meeting are finally confirmed the public will be informed properly.

Question: In an interview, the foreign minister of Turkey stated that they would like the meeting to take place in Armenia or Turkey? What is Armenia’s position in this regard?

Answer: During the previous attempts of normalization, the meetings were held in Armenia and Turkey, both at the level of negotiators and even presidents, but, as you know, no result has been achieved. I mean, the important thing is the political will to reach a normalization and the readiness to undertake clear concrete steps. We demonstrate both, and we expect the same from Turkey. If there is a will, the place of the meeting will become a purely logistic issue.

Moreover, the proposal of holding the meetings of the special representatives in Armenia and Turkey indicates that in Turkey's perception, the process is solely bilateral. In this case, it would be logical not to observe almost weekly statements of the representatives of Turkey that they advance the process in coordination with Azerbaijan.

Question: Regarding the normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations, Minister Chavushoglu also emphasized the need for bold steps. How would you comment on that?

Answer: The Armenian side fully agrees with the need for bold steps. We have repeatedly demonstrated our readiness to move forward, including with the participation of the Foreign Minister in the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, and the lifting of the economic embargo. The resumption of flights between Armenia and Turkey was also an important bilateral step.

We are convinced that the only way forward is to undertake consistent clear steps. For example, we offered the Turkish side to open the land border to holders of diplomatic passports as a first stage, but the Turkish side is hesitating. We think this will be a small but substantive, importantly, logical step. We hope it will be possible to achieve a result on this issue.