YEREVAN. – The initiative to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations had two avenues for development from the very outset.

It did not unroll with the first avenue, which was acceptable for Armenia and the international community, and the Armenia-Turkey border is still closed, Armenian President and the ruling coalition’s Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Board Chairman Serzh Sargsyan stated in his address at RPA’s congress on Saturday.     

In his words, the second avenue, by which the initiative unfurled, was similarly important for several reasons.    

“First, it strengthened the Armenian Genocide’s international recognition process. Second, it enabled to convince the entire world that the sole barrier against establishing relations between Armenia and Turkey is in Ankara and in another capital [Baku], which meddles. And third, it compelled Turkey to sign an international document which excludes any precondition for establishing relations.”    

The President also noted that this example comes to prove that Armenia’s foreign policy vector is extremely principled and calculated.

“We will continue to carry out our allied and international commitments, in good faith, [and] will use every opportunity to push our national interests forward [together] with the international engagement,” Sargsyan said.