On Monday (20 September) Pashinyan’s spokesperson, Mane Gevorgyan, announced that while there have been no contacts between officials, Armenia was ready to establish high-level dialogue with Turkey.
“The Prime Minister spoke about his vision for the start of talks with Turkey during a recent National Assembly-Cabinet Q&A session, saying that he believes that high-level contacts should be preceded by working discussions and presents this same vision to international partners. There have been no contacts between Armenian and Turkish officials so far, although the Armenian Government is ready for such contacts. In case of effective work of the officials, Armenia will be ready for high-level meetings as well”.
She added that “the opening of communications is extremely important for the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the region, overcoming the atmosphere of hostility in the region, and Armenia is determined to move in that direction and achieve results”.
This latest development comes after both Pashinyan and Erdogan hinted at a possible normalisation of relations last month, with Pashinyan reportedly having recently made a proposal through the Georgian Prime Minister to meet with the Turkish head of state. While the normalisation of relations between the two nations is by no means a fait accompli, the events of recent weeks seem to suggest that both sides are warming to the idea of opening some sort of diplomatic channel.