Armenia will be able to diversify its foreign policy by normalizing relations with Turkey, British Ambassador to Yerevan John Gallagher said.
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“The settlement of relations between Armenia and Turkey is of great importance for the region and, in particular, will help Armenia diversify its foreign policy and become a safer country,” the diplomat said.
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He added that the UK supports the parties in the process of normalizing relations.
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There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia; the border has been closed since 1993 on the initiative of Ankara. Difficult relations between the countries are caused by a number of circumstances, related, in particular, to Ankara’s support for the Azerbaijani position in the Karabakh problem and Turkey’s sharp reaction to the process of international recognition of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
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At the end of February, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan, answering a question from journalists about Yerevan’s readiness to deepen relations with the EU and obtain the status of a candidate for accession to the European Union, said that the country would move in the direction that would provide it with maximum security. Later – already in March – the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Ararat Mirzoyan, in an interview with the Turkish television company TRT World, said that the idea of joining the EU is among a number of issues actively discussed by Armenia.
