Envoys from Turkey and Armenia are meeting in Moscow on Friday, January 14 for the first round of talks aimed at normalizing relations.

Armenia has named lawmaker from the ruling Civil Contract party Ruben Rubinyan as special envoy to work on the normalization of ties with Turkey. Ankara, meanwhile, has appointed former ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic for the same role.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier that Ankara is in favor of direct contacts with Yerevan without intermediaries. He expressed hope in late December that the special representatives of the two countries will develop a roadmap for dialogue that will be useful for establishing further contacts.