Foreign Minister Mirzoyan Reiterates Armenia’s Commitment to Normalization with Turkey Without Preconditions

YEREVAN — Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday voiced cautious optimism over the success of negotiations on normalizing Armenia’s relations with Turkey.

Turkish and Armenian officials held the first round of the negotiations in Moscow on January 14. The foreign ministries of the two neighboring nations described the talks as “positive and constructive.”

They said special envoys representing the two sides agreed to continue the dialogue “without preconditions.” It is still not clear when they will meet again.

“I must say that the first meeting didn’t address many substantive issues, but there are some positive signs that the process will unfold successfully,” Mirzoyan said after holding talks in Yerevan with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.

“But again, these are issues which don’t depend only on the position of one side,” he told a joint news conference.

The minister insisted that just like its predecessors, the current Armenian government stands for normalizing bilateral ties “without preconditions.” “It is with these expectations that we embarked on this dialogue,” he stressed.