Armenia highly appreciates Switzerland’s efforts in the Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, Armenian Parliament Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan stated at the meeting with his Swiss counterpart Micheline Calmy-Rey in Berne.

Abrahamyan emphasized the Armenia-Turkey accords on the normalization of relations were reached without preconditions, but afterwards the Turkish side set a number of unacceptable preconditions. He stressed Turkey protracted the terms of the documents’ ratification in the parliament and the Armenian President withdrew the documents from the parliamentary agenda, but kept the signature. Thus, the Armenian side showed respect for the authority of the international mediators in the process. RA Speaker also stressed the importance of the opening of the Armenian Embassy in Switzerland, as it will give new impetus to the bilateral relations.

In her turn, Swiss Foreign Minister expressed confidence that the Armenia-Turkey process will not stop halfway. According to her, Berne is holding intensive consultations with Yerevan and Ankara to create favorable conditions for further talks.

“Switzerland is determined to achieve a breakthrough in the process,” the minister noted. She highly appreciated the Armenian President’s efforts in the Armenia-Turkey reconciliation.

Abrahamyan and Calmy-Rey also referred to the Karabakh peace process, stressing the importance of its peaceful resolution.