Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan responded to Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's statement that it is important for Armenia to regulate relations with Turkey, and if Turkey does it now, it will take away from Armenia the biggest incentive to sign the peace agreement with Azerbaijan.
Question: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey stated that it is important for Armenia to regulate relations with Turkey, and if Turkey does it now, it will take away from Armenia the biggest incentive to sign the peace agreement with Azerbaijan. Hakan Fidan also said that the concept of the link connecting Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan was adopted during the Washington meeting. Do you have a comment? Answer: First, the establishment of diplomatic relations with Turkey and the opening of the border are really important for Armenia. Equally important is the further institutionalization of the established peace with Azerbaijan. Armenia is making sincere efforts in both directions.
At the same time, however, none of these two components are dependent on the other, and if we necessarily try to see a cause-and-effect relationship between them, perhaps it will turn out that the complete settlement of relations with Turkey may not have a negative, but the opposite, a positive effect on the settlement process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As for the unblocking of transport infrastructures, the main principles of that process were agreed upon at the peace summit held in Washington on August 8: territorial integrity, borders inviolability, sovereignty, jurisdiction, reciprocity.
The TRIPP route defined within these frameworks will connect either Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan, or Armenia with other countries, or regions with a wider geography, through Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia is interested in making active efforts to implement it as soon as possible. Let us recall that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated in the country's parliament in response to the questions of the deputies that if Turkey regulates relations with Armenia now, it will take away from Armenia the biggest reason for signing the peace agreement with Azerbaijan, because it is important for Armenia to regulate relations with Turkey.
