On 14 October a reception was held in Istanbul on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Armenia’s independence. Turkey was represented by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Beris Ekinci. The participation of a Turkish representative at such a high level in such an event was unprecedented.
Turkey’s special representative for the normalization of relations with Armenia, Serdar Kilic, was also present at the event. Armenia was represented by Nairi Petrosyan, Armenia’s permanent representative to the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation. After the speeches, the national anthems of the two countries were played.
“We bilaterally continue the normalization process with the utmost sincerity and determination, with the ultimate goal of achieving full normalization. In this context, we are very pleased to see that the recent increase in high-level visits between our countries has significantly contributed to the strengthening of our bilateral dialogue and the advancement of mutual understanding.
We have also taken numerous concrete steps in the fields of transport, energy, culture and the restoration of direct trade. All these steps give us convincing grounds to look to the future of our region with great hope and optimism. Turkey has always supported peace, stability and the momentum of normalization in the South Caucasus.
This evening I would like to stress that we will continue to show our sincere and unwavering support for these processes in the coming period,” Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Beris Ekinci stated.
During the event the sides announced their readiness to continue the process of normalizing relations and to develop cooperation in transport, energy and trade.
