No Decision Yet on Third Meeting of Armenia, Turkey Special Representatives – FM Mirzoyan

YEREVAN — Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday described as “positive” the second round of Turkish-Armenian negotiations on normalizing relations between the two neighboring states.

The talks were held in Vienna last week. The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries said special envoys representing the two sides discussed “concrete steps that can be mutually taken” to achieve “full normalization between Turkey and Armenia.”

“I regard the second meeting of Armenia’s and Turkey’s representatives as positive,” Mirzoyan told the Armenian parliament. He said they discussed “more concrete” issues but did not elaborate.

“At the same time, I think we all understand that it’s hard to expect very tangible results even from the second meeting. “It’s a process that should provide solutions to issues accumulated for decades and centuries,” added Mirzoyan.

He did not say when veteran Turkish diplomat Serdar Kilic and Ruben Rubinian, a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, will meet again.

Mirzoyan last month voiced cautious optimism over the success of the Turkish-Armenian dialogue welcomed by the United States, the European Union and Russia.

Mirzoyan said also that no final decision has been made yet on participation of Armenian representatives in a diplomatic forum, which is scheduled for March 11-13 in the Turkish city of Antalya, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told the parliament today.

“There is no decision yet. I hope you will agree that events in our world are developing and changing very rapidly. And even the seemingly short-term terms in the past and the events are now quite long. When the deadlines approach, we will make the decision,” he said.