The relations with Turkey must be normalized without preconditions, Secretary of Armenia’s Security Council Armen Grigoryan told reporters at the government today.
He noted that it has been voiced by all Armenian authorizes over the past thirty years.
“When there are preconditions, it’s difficult to proceed on any issue. We do hope that the relations will be normalized without preconditions. All the existing issues are subject to discussion at a later stage, but it will be very difficult to start a relationship with preconditions,” the Secretary stated.
He noted that the normalization should be gradual. Asked about Erdogan’s remarks claiming that he had received an offer for a meeting from Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan through the Georgian side, Armen Grigoryan said: “We are convinced that one of the opportunities for the normalization of these relations is to have a dialogue at the highest level. We have stated at various political levels that Armenia is ready to normalize relations with Turkey, and the mentioned statements and political steps have been made within that logic,” the Secretary noted.
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He attached importance to distinguishing between the normalization of relations with Turkey and relations with Armenia, “if there are such.”
“The only format for the settlement of the Karabakh issue is the OSCE Minsk Group. All three co-chairing countries – Russia, France and the United States – have made statements stressing the need to resume the negotiations. And there is an important issue to be discussed within that framework – the issue of status of Artsakh,” Armen Grigoryan said.
He noted that “the Karabakh issue remains unsolved and is awaiting solution. We see that settlement within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, and the issue of status will be discussed within that framework,” he added.