Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sees opportunity to establish normal relations with Turkey
“That opportunity has increased due to extra-political, extra-diplomatic factors, or rather, human values, after we decided to respond to the catastrophic earthquake that occurred in Turkey at the beginning of this year with a logic based on human, neighborly values, and the Turkish government and public accepted our actions exactly that way,” the Prime Minister said, presenting the annual report on the implementation and results of the Government’s 2022 Action Plan.
“We would not have made the decision to send a rescue team and humanitarian aid to Turkey if we had not changed our perspective of perceiving history and the problems arising from it during this period,” he said.
“And the dozen flags of the Republic of Armenia flying in front of the Turkish Foreign Ministry during the visit of Foreign Minister Mirzoyan to Ankara are not only a ceremonial attribute, but an amazing record that hope can arise where despair prevails. The flags of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey were raised over the ruins of our relations and the catastrophic earthquake, and I hope that in the near future the Armenia-Turkey border will really open and a basis will be created for the development of normal neighborly relations,” PM Pashinyan noted.
In this regard, he attached importance to implementing the agreement to open the border for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports.
“Of course, this may not happen if the new perceptions and impressions brought by humanitarian and neighborly values freeze and fade over time, and their influence on political and diplomatic decisions becomes null and void. I hope this will not happen,” he stated.
