Armenia has named Deputy Parliament Speaker Ruben Rubinyan as Yerevan’s envoy to the process of normalizing relations with Turkey, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan announced on Saturday.
This follows an announcement by Turkey last that it had named its former ambassador to the United States, the notorious Armenia Genocide denier, Serder Kilic as Ankara’s envoy to the process.
Hunanyan told Public Radio of Armenia on Monday that the date of a meeting to kick off this process will be announced in “due time.”
“In case of an agreement on the dates of the meeting of special representatives within the framework of the dialogue between Armenia and Turkey, the public will be informed in due time,” Hunanyan said.
The comments come after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the special representatives could meet in the near future.
“To begin the process of normalizing relations, we have appointed special representatives. They will hold talks in the near future they will hold talks,” Cavusoglu said, without specifying the details of the upcoming meeting.
France welcomed the statements by the Turkish and Armenian authorities on the appointment of special representatives, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We welcome statements by the Turkish and Armenian authorities announcing their respective appointments of special representatives tasked with working to normalize relations between the two countries, a process France will fully support,” the Ministry said.
“This process must help bring greater stability and development to the South Caucasus,” it added.
The U.S. had also welcomed the effort last week, with Bloomberg reporting that the effort was a way for Ankara to appease President Joe Biden, who had suggested to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a recent meeting in Rome to open Turkey’s borders with Armenia.
