The Minister was in Berlin
RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan made an official visit to Berlin where he met with German Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gido Westerville.
Upon the request of the German Foreign Minister, Edward Nalbandyan presented the latest developments of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. Both sides attached importance to the peaceful settlement in line with the announcements made by the OSCE Council of Ministers in Helsinki in 2008 and Athens in 2009 and the continuation of negotiations based on the Madrid Proposals.
The Ministers touched upon relations between Armenia and the European Union, collaboration within the framework of the "Eastern Partnership" program and the facilitation of the entrance visa regime.
During the meeting the parties discussed the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations. Minister Nalbandyan mentioned: "If Turkey wants to continue the process and succeed, it must refrain from preconditions, searching artificial pretexts and take concrete actions for ratifying and implementing the Protocols." Edward Nalbandyan assured that Armenian is consistent with its initiative and expects the same from Turkey.
Minister Westerville mentioned that Germany has welcomed and supports all efforts that will lead to the establishment of normal relations between Armenia and Turkey and the opening of the border.
In Berlin, Minister Nalbandyan also visited the Bundestag where he met with chair of the committee on foreign relations Ruprecht Polents and members of the committee.
The interlocutors exchanged views on regional issues, including normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. Ruprecht Polents welcomed the efforts aimed at normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations and expressed hope that the sides would not miss out on the historical opportunity and would meet the international community's expectations.
On the same day the RA Foreign Minister was hosted at Germany's Foreign Policy Council.
Talking about Turkey's recent announcements, Minister Nalbandyan said: "Turkey's claims that the Armenian Genocide resolutions discussed and passed by the US House of Representatives and the Swedish parliament will hurt Turkish-Armenian relations are groundless. In reality, Turkey is doing everything possible to set preconditions, create difficulties for normalization and call into question the meaning of reasonable timeframes." The Minister expressed hope that Turkey would realize the effects of its working style and will not deceive the international community.
The Armenian Foreign Minister took part in a press conference for German and foreign presses.
After his visit to Berlin, Edward Nalbandyan left for Paris.
