Armenia Expects Diplomatic Relations and Border Opening with Turkey

Armenia anticipates that the dialogue process with Turkey will lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders between the two countries. This statement was made by Vahan Hunanyan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, in response to questions from "Armenpress" ahead of the planned first meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey on January 14.

Hunanyan also emphasized that, from the Armenian side, the impression is that the Turkish government shares the approach of starting dialogue without preconditions.

- What are the main goals that the Armenian side wants to achieve through the Armenia-Turkey dialogue?

- Armenia's expectations from this dialogue are essentially the same as they have been since the early 1990s. We expect that as a result of the process, diplomatic relations will be established between Armenia and Turkey, and the border, which was unilaterally closed by Turkey in the early 1990s, will be opened.

- There are opinions that by agreeing to start dialogue with Turkey, Armenia has already accepted the preconditions that Turkey has always raised in the context of normalizing relations with Armenia. How would you comment on this?

- The Republic of Armenia has always stated that it is ready to normalize relations with Turkey without any preconditions. In this regard, I must also note that Armenia's approach has not changed; the same position is reflected in the Government of Armenia's program for 2021-2026. As we have previously mentioned, in our communications with international partners, we have regularly emphasized the necessity of maintaining the principle of "without preconditions." Our impression is that the Turkish government also shares the approach of starting dialogue without preconditions.

- The first meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey in the dialogue process is scheduled for January 14 in Moscow. What format will the meeting take, and what expectations does the Armenian side have from this meeting?

- The meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey will take place in Moscow, hosted by the Russian side. Essentially, this first meeting will be of an introductory nature. It is difficult to expect tangible results from a single meeting; however, it will initiate the process.