ISTANBUL 

Türkiye had offered Armenia to host the first round of normalization talks between the two countries in the Armenian capital Yerevan, the Turkish foreign minister said on Monday.

“We made an offer to Armenia, saying that we can have the first meeting in Yerevan, but Armenia is not ready for this yet due to domestic pressure,” Mevlut Cavusoglu told a joint news conference of foreign and interior ministers of Türkiye and Austria in the capital Ankara.

Cavusoglu said that the Armenian diaspora was divided over the Turkish-Armenian normalization process, adding that there were some protests by extremist groups on Armenian streets.

“We thank Austria (for hosting the normalization talks), but why shouldn't the next meetings be held in Türkiye or Armenia?” he questioned.

The Turkish foreign minister also reiterated that his country is in consultation with Azerbaijan at every stage regarding the normalization process.

“After all, we want to continue the process gradually,” Cavusoglu said.

“On the other hand, we support the normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he added.

Turkish and Armenian envoys for the normalization of ties held their fourth meeting in Vienna on Friday in which they agreed to open the land border between the two countries for citizens of third countries “at the earliest day possible,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The first round of normalization talks was held in Moscow on Jan. 14, where both parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second time in Vienna on Feb. 24, and the third meeting was held on May 3 in the same city.

Also, a historic bilateral meeting took place between the foreign ministers of Türkiye and Armenia on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on March 12.

As part of the efforts, Türkiye and Armenia have also resumed commercial flights as of Feb. 2 after a two-year hiatus.