RF Foreign Ministry comments on Armenia-Turkey readiness to normalize bilateral relations.

“RF Ministry of Foreign Affairs has positively evaluated the news on Armenia and Turkey readiness to launch the process of internal consultations over the ‘Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations’ and ‘Protocol on the development of bilateral relations’.

Armenia and Turkey are friendly states. We consider progress in normalization of their relations as a logical and long overdue process. We will be glad if the consultations, that are exceptionally internal business of the two states, will lead to substantive agreements.

Preliminary analysis of the draft protocols, its constituents and schedule of realization demonstrates all seriousness of elaboration process, as well as the determination of both parties to accomplish their undertaking. We stress that not a single step stipulated by the document can be interpreted as damage to any third party.

The recently initiated considerable mutual efforts of Armenian and Turkish leadership towards rapprochement create a real opportunity to alter the complex situation and transfer the long-frozen relations into a new constructive dimension.

We hope that improvement in relations between the two neighbors will bring to enlivening of trade and economic contacts, as well as positively impact the social-economic situation in the both states, which is of no little significance under the global crisis.

Russian official representatives have continuously called Armenian and Turkish partners to attempt to resolve the conflicts in this pragmatic way.

It is crucial to keep on pursuing this course toward establishment of good neighborly relations between Armenia and Turkey, that will assist the improvement of situation in the region, as well as strengthening of peace and security,” the statement of Russian MFA Information and Press Department reads.

As NEWS.am informed earlier, on August 31, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Turkey issued a press release, that says: "The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey have agreed to start their internal political consultations on two protocols – the ‘Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations’ and the ‘Protocol on the development of bilateral relations’ – which have been initiated in the course of their efforts under Swiss mediation.