A Turkish diplomatic source told journalists that Turkey’s special representative to Armenia, Serdar Kilic, was willing to visit Yerevan and there meet his counterpart, Ruben Rubinyan.
The source stressed that Armenia does not appear to be willing to move the talks to Ankara and Yerevan unless there is a significant breakthrough in discussions. The source added that moving talks to the respective capitals “would itself be a breakthrough, and they should do so to progress talks in a more positive environment”.
Turkey is prioritizing measures that will not lead to excessive expectations on both sides and that are welcomed in both countries and will be taken “step by step”.
The source said there were unexpected challenges in opening the Armenia-Turkey land border for third countries due to insufficient infrastructure at crossings, which may delay the step.
For example, the physical conditions at the Alican and Akyaka border crossings, which have not been used for more than 30 years, need to be improved. Turkey’s special representative went to the border after the last meeting with Rubinyan and made inspections at the crossings. That is why Turkey and Armenia will first need to hold technical talks among the relevant officials to resolve the infrastructure issues in September. The special representatives may then hold another round of talks in Ankara or Yerevan, if Armenia agrees.
The source described the atmosphere between Kilic and Rubinyan as a “very cordial and friendly”, with them frequently calling each other to resolve minor issues.
According to the source, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan last month was also very positive.
While confidence-building measures were prioritized in the talks, “difficult” issues between the two countries, especially the so-called “Armenian genocide”, were not brought up. Ankara believes that it would not be “rational” to discuss the “difficult” issues between the two countries at this stage. However, the Turkish source stressed that Armenia publicly restated that it does not have any land claims against Turkey.
Commenting on the reports suggesting that Turkey had been clearing mines on the Armenian border, which triggered speculation that Ankara was readying itself to fully open the border, the source said the mine clearance was not related to the talks, but to the multinational Ottawa Convention, which mandates Turkey to clear its borders of land mines.
