Turkish, Armenian foreign ministers hold "constructive" talks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he held "productive and constructive" talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Saturday, March 12 as they bid to mend ties, Reuters reports.

The two met at a diplomatic forum in Antalya on Turkey's southern coast. Ankara has had no diplomatic or commercial ties with Armenia since the 1990s but they held talks in January in a first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord, which was never ratified.

Saturday's meeting was the first sit-down meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers since 2009. They spoke briefly on the sidelines of an OSCE meeting in November last year.

"It was a very productive and constructive conversation," Cavusoglu told reporters after the talks, which lasted 30 minutes. "We are making efforts for stability and peace."

Speaking through a translator, Mirzoyan said: "We are continuing the process of normalising relations without preconditions ... We are making efforts."

The two countries have said the January talks were "positive and constructive," raising the prospect that ties could be restored and borders reopened. read more

Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev said earlier that the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey could meet on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.