No contacts between Armenian and Turkish officials so far – PM’s Spokesperson

Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 20 2021


At the moment, no contacts have taken place between Armenian and Turkish officials, although the Armenian government is ready for such contacts, RA Prime Minister’s spokeswoman Mane Gevorgyan told Public Radio of Armenia. She referred to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to meet with him through Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

“In all his international contacts, Prime Minister Pashinyan presents to his colleagues the vision of opening an era of peaceful development for Armenia and the region enshrined in the government’s program and expresses the readiness of the Armenian government to make efforts in that direction. The Prime Minister spoke about his vision for the start of talks with Turkey during a recent question-and-answer session with the National Assembly, saying that he believes that high-level contacts should be preceded by working discussions and shares this vision with international partners. There has been no contact between Armenian and Turkish officials so far, although the Armenian government is ready for such contacts. In case of such effective work, Armenia will be ready for high-level meetings as well,” Pashinyan said.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the Turkish President again spoke about the issue of opening a corridor through Armenia, saying that it was a political issue.

In this connection, Mane Gevorgyan said: “Prime Minister Pashinyan has spoken about it on many occasions. Armenia attaches importance to the accurate implementation of the agreements set out in the November 9 and January 11 statements. The opening of communications is extremely important for the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the region, overcoming the atmosphere of painful hostility in the region, and Armenia is determined to move in that direction and achieve results. In some statements, the topic of reopening communications is transformed and gets the logic of maintaining regional isolation.”

“Such is the talk about the corridors, which contradicts the logic of establishing peace and stability in the region, overcoming the atmosphere of hostility. It not only aims to isolate the states and peoples of the region, but also to make that isolation look irreversible. But there are also ways to open up regional communications that emphasize regional interconnectedness and can be a real way to overcome the hostility step by step. The Armenian government is in favor of such an option and that option is described in paragraph 9 of the November 9 trilateral statement and in the January 11 trilateral statement,” the Spokesperson noted.

Speaking about the perspectives of opening an era of peaceful development in the current conditions, Gevorgyan said: “Unfortunately, events taking place every day aim at delegitimizing the peace agenda, not only deepening the atmosphere of hostility but also making it more systematic. These and other steps are being taken to demonstrate the impossibility of peace in our region, but the Armenian government will consistently advance that agenda, using all opportunities to open an era of peace for our region and creating new opportunities. Prime Minister Pashinyan has repeatedly stated that we need strong nerves on this path and that there are no quick and easy solutions.”