We are confident that Armenia and Turkey can and should normalize relations. FM Mirzoyan

"We are confident that Armenia and Turkey can and should normalize relations, that is, establish relations and open borders," Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said during the Q&A session with the Government in the National Assembly.

According to him, in the context of this process, the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey also had a positive impact. On March 12, within the framework of the diplomatic forum in Antalya, Ararat Mirzoyan met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. According to him, the decision to take part in the forum in Antalya was the right decision․ "Of course, no tangible, concrete agreement was reached, but both sides confirmed that we are continuing the dialogue, the process without preconditions, with the goal of opening the borders." According to the Armenian Foreign Minister, there are certain differences between the two sides in terms of pace, but in general, at least verbally, both sides confirmed that the end result is the opening of borders․ 

MP of the "Civil Contract" faction Tatevik Gasparyan asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan what kind of work the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is doing in the international arena to present the situation in Artsakh as a result of the termination of gas supply.

"Both the first time when the gas supply failed, and the second time, we immediately used all our efforts, all possible diplomatic efforts. First of all, of course, we are in close, periodic contact with our Russian colleagues, because the accident, or in this case it is no longer clear what to call it, is not an accident, in fact. In any case, the damaged or closed area is in the area of responsibility of the peacekeepers, and our primary communication, of course, is with our Russian partners, but also with the rest of the civilized world," Mirzoyan said.

FM Mirzoyan also referred to the proposals of Azerbaijan saying that there is nothing unacceptable for Armenia in Azerbaijan's proposals. "Another thing is that these proposals didn’t fully address the entire agenda of possible negotiations. For a comprehensive peace, we have added proposals from our agenda and handed them over to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. I was informed from the Co-Chairs that these proposals were transmitted to official Baku. We don't have a response from Baku yet," Mirzoyan said. According to Mirzoyan, one of the main goals of Armenia's proposals is that the issue of the rights and status of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh continues to be a matter of principle for the Armenian side․ "it’s impossible to call any agenda integral until this issue is also addressed."

"The declaration of Shushi contains anti-Armenian provisions encroaching on the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia. Surprisingly, the declaration also began to be ratified by parliaments, including Turkey. What was the response to that? Besides the announcement of the foreign ministry on June, 2021, when it was not yet ratified. Was there any response from the foreign ministry after all of this?" Aram Vardevanyan, the Deputy of “Hayastan” party asked.

“Not only Armenia, but also the international community refers to this. It is appropriate to mention the decision of the Hague court on interim measures, where very clearly the Azerbaijani high-ranking officials were called on ceasing that policy. There are many examples like this, such as cultural monuments, such as these days when there is a humanitarian crisis over gas. The situation and possible developments are at the core of all our international contacts”, Mirzoyan said.

Armenian President receives the Ambassadors of Iran and UK

On March 23, President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri. Armenian President and the Ambassador of Iran mutually stressed the importance of the consistent deepening and strengthening of the Armenian-Iranian relations. During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on issues related to various spheres of Armenian-Iranian cooperation and regional developments.

President of the Republic of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to the Republic of Armenia John Gallagher. The sides exchanged views on the issues of bilateral Armenian-British relations and regional security.

Armenian Defense Ministry Confirms Direct Communication Link with Azerbaijani Counterpart |hetq.am|

Armenia’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed that it has established a direct communication link with the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry to prevent incidents along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact.

Responding to a Hetq inquiry on the matter, Secretary General of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Hamlet Batikyan wrote that a link had been established but that no specifics could be provided due to security concerns.

On November 19, 2021, European Council President Charles Michel spoke, by telephone, with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia as a follow up to discussions held earlier that week about the situation in the region. The European Council, in a statement after the talks, said that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders had agreed to establish a direct communication line, at the level of respective Ministers of Defense, to serve as an incident prevention mechanism.

Given recent tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Hetq wrote to the Armenian Defense Ministry, requesting clarification on the mater. Batikyan, in his response to Hetq, did not specify what type of link has been established between the Armenian and Azerbaijani defense ministries (telephone, video). The official did not say when such a link had been used the last time or if he believed it could effectively prevent border clashes in the future. According to the Armenian Ministry of Defense: "The situation on Armenia’s state border is stable," and "Joint work with the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Artsakh is constantly carried out to prevent and resolve incidents in the border areas of Artsakh."

To Hetq’s question whether the Republic of Armenia continues to be the guarantor of Artsakh's security, the Ministry of Defense noted: "Armenia’s Ministry of Defense and Armenia’s Armed Forces are the guarantors of Armenia’s national security doctrine as set by the December 25, 2007 Presidential Decision and the July 10, 2020 decision of the Armenian Security Council.

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