On December 27, Turkey’s special representative, Ambassador Serdar Kılıç, delivered a speech at the conference titled “A Life Dedicated to Diplomacy: Turkey-Armenia Relations in Light of Recent Developments, Through the Eyes of Diplomat Serdar Kılıç,” organized by the Faculty of Languages, History and Geography of Ankara University. Ermenihaber reports.
Kılıç first addressed the process unfolding between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In his conviction, the existing problems will be overcome in the event of mutual understanding and both sides taking into account their long-term interests.
“We must realize that a positive development in one of the processes positively affects the other process, and likewise, a negative development in one of the processes affects the other. These two processes are separate, but it is not possible to completely separate them from each other.”
Then turning to the Armenia-Turkey normalization process, Turkey’s special representative noted that there is talk that Turkey and Armenia are in fact conducting trilateral negotiations, because Azerbaijan is also part of that process.
“Of course, Azerbaijan is also there, and there are some countries that have dialogue with Armenia. However, they are not physically present in this process, and they cannot dictate conditions in this process. This process is exclusively a process conducted at a bilateral level. It takes place exclusively between me and Armenia’s special representative, Ruben Rubinyan. I also have good relations with him as a friend.”
Kılıç, recalling the positive atmosphere of the meetings at various levels held recently between Armenia and Turkey, nevertheless stressed that there are certain problems at the present stage. In his opinion, regional countries should pursue the resolution of existing problems, but recently the OSCE and the European Union have begun to interfere and internationalize the issue, which the Turkish ambassador considers wrong.
“Regional countries should solve their problems on their own initiative and stand by them. At this moment, together with Rubinyan, we are trying to do this.”
Serdar Kılıç stressed that concrete steps are being taken within the framework of the normalization process. One of them is that bilateral air cargo transportation between Armenia and Turkey will begin in a very short time. Kılıç subscribes to the view that the process of establishing lasting peace and stability in the region passes through the Turkey-Armenia normalization process. The establishment of Armenia’s relations with the West on stable foundations also depends on the success of the Turkey-Armenia process.
“If an improvement in the living standards and prosperity of the people in Armenia is expected, then the path to that is the normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations. Now imagine that we have two border crossings, one railway and the other highway-road. If they are opened, Yerevan will be in front of the Alican border crossing. Gyumri will be opposite the Akiaqa crossing designated for the railway…
Now, under the conditions of economic sanctions imposed against Russia, if we take into account the existing problems in the field of trade with Armenia, this could have a resounding impact on the living standards of the Armenian people.”
