Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and special envoy Ruben Rubinyan are expected to attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF), Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced Thursday.
Çavuşoğlu spoke during a joint press conference with his Central African counterpart Sylvie Baipo-Temon in the capital Ankara.
Turkey's top diplomat explained that the Armenian foreign minister and special envoy had been invited to the upcoming forum and that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has approved the officials' participation. Noting that Armenia's attendance would be welcomed since Azerbaijan will also be present, Çavuşoğlu encouraged Baku and Yerevan to "express their thoughts" at the talks, which will serve as "confidence-building steps."
The normalization process initiated with Armenia and supported by Azerbaijan continues with confidence-building measures, Çavuşoğlu explained, adding that in this context, the special representatives of the two countries held their first meeting in Moscow.
Noting that the special representatives are in constant contact and that they will decide on the next meeting, Çavuşoğlu reminded that mutual flights will start in February.
Armenia wants to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without any preconditions, Pashinian said Monday, indicating that the country might attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.
Speaking at a press conference, he said: "Our special representatives have met. If the process continues like this, it is highly possible that Armenia will participate in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. It would be irrational to miss a chance to continue meetings."
The Antalya Diplomacy Forum will be held on March 11-14 in southern Antalya province, under the motto "Recoding Diplomacy" and will be attended by several heads of state, ministers, academics and members of the press.
The gathering, where the most important regional and global issues on the world’s agenda will be discussed in a solution-oriented platform, will provide leaders, politicians, prominent academics, thinkers, opinion leaders, diplomats and business people an opportunity to discuss international issues from a diplomatic perspective.
After a 1 1/2 hour meeting recently in Moscow, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries published the same statement hailing the talks and agreeing to "continue negotiations without preconditions." Turkey aims for their next meeting to be held either in Turkey or Armenia, sources said.
Former Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kılıç was named as the Turkish special envoy on Dec. 15, 2021, to discuss steps toward normalization with neighboring Armenia. Three days later, Armenia appointed its special representative, deputy parliamentary speaker Rubinyan.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or commercial ties for three decades, and the talks are the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord. That deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.
The neighbors are at odds over various issues, primarily the 1915 incidents and Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Turkey has been putting heavy emphasis on creating enhanced cooperation and integration in the region following the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Azerbaijan also closely cooperate within the scope of the Organization of Turkic States and establish the 3+3 Caucasus platform, which envisages further integration and cooperation in the region.
Ankara has made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus.
The first meeting took place in Russia, without the participation of Georgia, which announced it would not take part in the next round, expected to take place in Turkey.