The first official contact between Turkey and Armenia after many years will take place on January 14 in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a short briefing on the subject.
“The first meeting between the Special Representatives of Turkey and Armenia will be held in Moscow on January 14, 2022,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.
Ambassador Serdar Kılıç will represent Turkey as a special representative at the meeting. Kılıç previously served as Turkey’s Ambassador to Washington. Ruben Rubinyan, the deputy speaker of the parliament, will attend the meeting for the Armenian side.
The former deputy speaker of the Turkish Parliament, Hasan Korkmazcan has stated on which conditions Turkey should normalize relations with Armenia.
Korkmazcan, who is currently Chairman of the Talaat Pasha Committee, stressed that Turkey should normalize relations with Armenia only if the latter fulfils four preconditions.
According to Korkmazcan, Armenia should immediately implement the trilateral agreements reached on November 9, 2020; respect the territorial integrity of Turkey and announce it; renounce “genocide allegations”, because it was stressed during the Perincek v. Switzerland case at the ECHR that these were a lie; and put an end to its enmity against Turkey, and dismantle the statue in the Shirak Province of Armenia that debases the Turkish nation. (i.e., the statue of Soghomon Tehlirian, who had assassinated Talaat Pasha).
According to Mehmet Perinçek, expert of United World International, the rapprochement between Ankara and Yerevan can take place not only within the framework of bilateral relations, but also through the “3+3” format.
Perinçek delivered an according statement to Azerbaijani news outlet Vesti.az, commenting on the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and the appointment of special representatives for the upcoming meeting.
“The events in Kazakhstan proved once again that peace and stability in our region are very important. After the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Washington’s plans in Central Asia were completely destroyed,” Perinçek said.
According to him, today there are various initiatives in the South Caucasus region, including a platform for the interaction of six countries – “3+3”.
“All of them play a huge role in ensuring peace and stabilizing the situation in the South Caucasus. Only such initiatives can deprive the imperialist countries of the possibility of intervening in regional affairs. The United States suffered a complete defeat in Afghanistan, they failed to implement a project to create chaos in this country,” the Turkish political scientist said.
In his opinion, only rapprochement, close cooperation and solidarity between regional countries can prevent such insidious plans of Washington.
“After the liberation of Karabakh, the rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey, as well as between Armenia and Azerbaijan, is very important for establishing lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus. First, the normalization of relations will hinder the implementation of American plans in the Transcaucasus, which pose a threat to the national security of all regional countries, including Turkey and Azerbaijan. Secondly, it will contribute to integration, which will enable the development of the regional economy,” Mehmet Perinçek explained.