Turkish diplomat participating in the panel discussion of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Serdar Kılıç, Turkey's Special representative on the issue of relations with Armenia, once again supported Baku's position that there is no need to involve mediators for the settlement of bilateral relations, calling them foreign interference in the process.
He again accused the Armenian diaspora of trying to hinder the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as between Armenia and Turkey.
Kılıç also reminded that during the first meeting between him and Ruben Rubinyan in Moscow, the parties agreed to begin the process of normalization of relations without preconditions. Ruben Rubinyan recalled the agreement reached between the parties to open the land border for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports.
“All infrastructure for this is ready on the Armenian side to implement this initiative. However, these agreements have not yet been implemented,” he said.
Deputy Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly, Special representative of Armenia on the issue of relations with Turkey, Ruben Rubinyan, reminded that in 2023 the historic moment that took place in February, when the Armenian-Turkish land border was opened for the first time in 30 years for 20 minutes, and humanitarian aid delivered from Armenia arrived in the disaster zone.
“We do not need tragedies to have an open border. We should not open the border for tragic reasons even if it is a manifestation of good will of our countries. We need to have an open border for times of happiness and prosperity. And I see no reason why the Turkish-Armenian border should be closed. That is why I say that people need to communicate with each other in order for reconciliation to happen. That isolation reinforces the formation of historic stereotypes,” he said.
In response, Serdar Kılıç accused Armenia that the country is promoting the opening of borders as a precondition for the normalization of relations.
