RA NA Speaker Alen Simonyan met Mustafa Sentop, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Turkey, on May 4 in Ankara. Before the official meeting, the leaders of the two countries’ parliaments had a private conversation lasting about 20 minutes.
RA NA Speaker noted that Armenia is constructively involved in the process of normalization of relations with Turkey. Alen Simonyan said that specific achievements were recorded within the framework of normalizing relations between Armenia and Turkey.
The head of the Turkish Parliament emphasized that his country is trying to be neutral with all the member countries within the framework of the presidency of the CSTO PA, adding that, at the moment, there are also conflicts among the member countries.
The Speaker of the RA National Assembly, regretfully referring to the closure of the airspace for Armenian airlines by Turkey a few days ago, expressed hope that this meeting will contribute to the solution of the problem. In response, Mustafa Shentop stated that the opening of the “Nemesis” memorial monument in Yerevan is a sensitive and painful issue for them, which is the reason for the ban above. The Speaker of the RA NA responded that many reasons could be pointed out, as a result of which many processes have stopped, but his visit also contains an impulse to move forward in this regard.
Alen Simonyan noted that Armenia attaches particular importance to the opening of the Armenian-Turkish land border for citizens of third countries visiting Armenia and Turkey and persons with diplomatic passports. He regretted that he could not cross the land border with a diplomatic passport to participate in this event.
“Despite the difference in the positions of Armenia and Turkey on several issues, we hope that this meeting will serve as a basis for establishing the Armenian-Turkish parliamentary dialogue and forming the necessary foundations to ensure its continuity,” said the head of the parliament.
According to Mustafa Shentop, Turkey seeks to regulate relations with Armenia. He believes that the possible early resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict benefits the conflicting parties and the entire region.
Alen Simonyan reaffirmed that the peace agenda guide the Armenian side and will not deviate from that agenda. He stated that Armenia has no territorial claims against its neighbors, reiterating that our country’s goal is to establish continuous peace and stability in the region.
At the meeting, Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance relations were discussed. The RA NA Speaker emphasized that Baku’s approaches are not constructive; the latter is acting from the most religious positions. Issues related to the return of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan and the post-war situation were discussed.
