Ruben Rubinyan Appointed Armenia’s Special Representative for Dialogue with Turkey

YEREVAN — Deputy Speaker of the RA National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan will be the Special Representative of Armenia for the dialogue process between Armenia and Turkey. Press Secretary of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vahan Hunanyan announced this on his Facebook page.

On December 13, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Turkey and Armenia may appoint special representatives to normalize relations between the countries and their intention to open charter flights to Yerevan. Later, Cavusoglu announced the appointment of the former Turkish ambassador to the United States, Serdar Kilic, as a special representative.

On December 24, 1991, Turkey officially recognized the Republic of Armenia, but still refuses to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia.

In 1993, Turkey unilaterally closed its air and land borders with Armenia. The air border was opened in 1995 under pressure from the international community. For the opening of the land border and the establishment of diplomatic relations, Turkey puts forward a number of unacceptable conditions, in particular, the refusal of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.