21:35,
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Unreasonable optimism should not be expressed over discussions and negotiations with Turkey and Azerbaijan, as there is no basis for that optimism, but the parties express a desire to discuss, talk, try to create a basis for optimism, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said in an online press conference. “We are ready to pursue that path”, ARMENPRESS reports the PM as saying.
Armenia and Turkey have appointed special envoys․ Armenia will be represented by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan, and Turkey will be represented by the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to the USA Serdar Kilic. Their first meeting has not been scheduled yet. Pashinyan, however, expressed hope that the meeting will be scheduled as soon as possible. A rather long process is expected, and one should not have exaggerated expectations from one or two meetings in order to record a concrete result.
PM Pashinyan does not agree with the opinions voiced by the opposition that with the readiness of such negotiations Armenia has agreed to Turkey's preconditions regarding the "Zangezur Corridor". "Armenia has not discussed, does not discuss and will not discuss any issue in the corridor logic. In terms of relations with Turkey, if we ask the question in the logic of communications, the agenda of creating, building and shaping transit routes may be important for us. And if during our contact with Turkey it turns out that the expected opening of the communications can have a larger regional significance, it will be one of the key issues on our agenda. One of the issues will be, for example, the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border and the railway.
There are talks about the reopening of air communication, which we positively assess, we welcome, we hope that mutual flights will start. In other words, our expectation is the normalization of relations, but we must understand that we are dealing with a complex problem, which has many nuances and sensitivities. There is a lot of emotional attitude to the issue in the Republic of Armenia”, Pashinyan emphasized.
He added that all the Armenian authorities have said that they are ready to normalize relations with Turkey without preconditions, which means that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide has never been a precondition for normalization of relations with Turkey and opening of borders. According to the Prime Minister, the Armenian government has clearly stated its position on the issue of international recognition of the Genocide.
Pashinyan also noted that there ais no agreement or idea for meeting with the Turkish president, but if the negotiation process between the envoys goes on successfully, high and top level meetings can take place.