Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to Attend Antalya Forum in Turkey

YEREVAN — Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has accepted his Turkish counterpart’s invitation to take part in an international conference that will be held in Turkey this week.

The Antalya Diplomacy Forum organized by the Turkish government and slated for March 11-13 will bring together politicians, diplomats and experts from around the world for three-day discussions on international security.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced in January that Mirzoyan is among foreign dignitaries invited to the forum. He revealed the invitation just days after special envoys of Armenia and Turkey held the first round of negotiations on normalizing relations between the two neighboring states. They described the talks held in Moscow as “positive and constructive.”

The envoys met again in Vienna on February 24. Mirzoyan seemed satisfied with their second meeting when he spoke in the Armenian parliament last week.

“We inform that Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum,” Vahan Hunanyan, the spokesman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, said in a short statement issued on Monday.

Hunanyan did not say whether Mirzoyan will meet with Cavusoglu on the sidelines of the forum.

It was confirmed, meanwhile, that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will also fly to the Turkish resort city for the gathering. Russia has welcomed the Turkish-Armenian dialogue as have the United States and the European Union.

Lavrov and Mirzoyan spoke by phone on Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry said they discussed “coordination of Russia’s and Armenia’s approaches in the international arena.”