Armenia is ready to start normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions and open the border, TASS reports. Deputy Speaker Hakob Arshakyan announced this at a parliamentary session on Monday. "Our position has not changed. Armenia is ready to open the borders and start normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions. This comes from the interests of Armenia and the Armenian people," Arshakyan said.

It should be reminded that on January 14, in Moscow, with the mediation of the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Rudenko, the first meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey to normalize relations took place. The parties agreed to conduct a dialogue in a constructive and depoliticized manner in order to identify common ground.

The land and air borders between the countries were closed in 1993 in the wake of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The air border was opened in 1995 under pressure from the international community. To open the land border and establish diplomatic relations, Turkey puts forward a number of conditions that Armenia does not want to fulfill.

In 2008, a new stage in the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations began. On October 10, 2009, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries in Zurich signed the protocols "On the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey" and "On the development of relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey". However, later Turkey conditioned their ratification by the settlement of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. On March 1, 2018, Armenia announced the annulment of the protocols. Armenia and Turkey have appointed special representatives for settlement issues in 2021. Former Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilych has become Ankara's special representative. Yerevan is represented by Deputy Chairman of the Parliament Ruben Rubinyan.

bbabo.Net