Armenian President: "Armenia Is Ready to Establish Relations With Turkey Without Preconditions"
In an interview with Special Eurasia, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan stated that Armenia is ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions, including the issue of recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
The President stated that establishing good neighborly relations with all neighbors, including Turkey, has never been controversial for Armenia. "We have always favored establishing relations with Turkey without preconditions, with the position of opening the borders. It must be emphasized that the wording 'without preconditions' is not a diplomatic maneuver and also refers to the issue of recognizing the Genocide," he added.
Khachaturyan stated that for decades, Turkey was the first to put forward preconditions for opening borders and normalizing relations with Armenia, in some way serving the Azerbaijani agenda in resolving the Karabakh conflict. "At the same time, I consider it important to emphasize that in the early 1990s and 2008-2009, Armenia and Turkey had the opportunity to make fundamental changes and move towards a settlement. These opportunities were not used to the full, but today, I think it's more important to talk not about past mistakes or missed opportunities, but to look to the future," he said.
Khachaturyan expressed optimism that Armenia and Turkey will be able to establish civilized, regulated, and predictable good neighborly relations. "I am convinced that the key to solving even the most difficult problems is development and democracy, which cannot exist with preconditions or exceptions," the President said. "From this perspective, Armenia sees the establishment of civilized relations with Turkey, and, in general, with all neighboring countries, as an opportunity to achieve democracy and development and overcome difficult problems," he concluded.