“Recently, high-ranking government officials have been making vague hints about how the situation in the region is new and that Armenian-Turkish relations should be ‘corrected.’ This is incomprehensible. Are any consultations taking place with Turkey?” Prosperous Armenia deputy Arman Abovyan asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ara Ayvazyan, during a session of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration as they discussed the Armenian government’s 2020 report.
“Armenia’s official positions on foreign policy can only be expressed by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I must reiterate that the Armenian people, who survived genocide, understand the price of peace the best, and we are not looking for enemies. From independence until recently, Armenia has presented different initiatives to reform relations with Turkey,” Ara Ayvazyan said.
Then, he continued, “In general, reciprocity is important in both interpersonal and interstate relations, but in the Zurich process, the process of normalizing relations without preconditions was not reciprocated by Ankara. Moreover, the Armenian Genocide of the last century did not seem to stop; it was also exported to our region. Naturally, we are well aware of the prospects for peace and reconciliation, but these are not nice words. In order for peace to truly be established in the region, we expect that Turkey dramatically changes its aggressive policies towards Armenia and eliminates its hostile activities.”
Arman Abovyan expressed that Turkey will not change anything. “The anti-Armenian thesis is always a cornerstone.”
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Then, Abovyan repeated his question. “Now, have any consultations taken place between Armenia and Turkey? Perhaps with the help of third parties?” Ara Ayvazyan responded, “There have been many cases throughout history where countries with tragic histories finally found the political will and understood the necessity of forming normal, friendly relations. I hope that Turkey will come to that realization sooner or later. I do not believe that Turkey won’t change its anti-Armenian behavior sooner or later. As far as your question goes, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not aware of any format in which discussions with official Ankara can take place.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
