YEREVAN. – The expression of goodwill cannot be denied in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

British Conservative Party MP Sajjad Karim, who is also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), stated the aforesaid at Friday’s 15th Meeting of the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, which is held in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan.

“One cannot disagree that the border should be opened without preconditions.

“A year ago, the Turkish side announced that even though the protocols on the establishment of Armenian-Turkish diplomatic relations are frozen, they are not dead.

“We realize that some diplomatic work has been done and we don’t rule out the manifestation of goodwill. But don’t you think that the Armenian side, for example, can take a step, let’s say, hand over some territories—not of Karabakh itself, but around it—, and this will help resolve the issue?” Karim stated.

In response, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Dashnaktsutyun Party MP Aghvan Vardanyan noted that all international organizations, including the European Union, as well as Armenia have repeatedly stated that Armenian-Turkish relations should be normalized without preconditions, and the positing of preconditions is unacceptable.