On Monday, the Turkish foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Ankara and Armenia will have their first talks in Moscow.
During at an annual evaluation meeting, Çavuşoğlu noted that Ankara wants to have direct contact with Yerevan before the official meeting.
“A road map outlining which steps need to be taken to normalize relations needs to be determined by getting in direct contact, including bilateral visits,” he said.
Following years of frozen ties, the neighboring countries of Turkey and Armenia have announced they seek to normalize relations amid efforts for regional integration and cooperation in the South Caucasus.
Earlier this month, the two countries appointed special envoys to normalize relations.
Turkey appointed its former ambassador to the United States, Serdar Kılıç, as special envoy to lead normalization discussions with Armenia
The borders between the two countries have been closed for decades and diplomatic relations have been on hold.
Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark peace accord in 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after decades, but the deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.
Relations between Armenia and Turkey have historically been complicated. Turkey’s position on the events of 1915 is that Armenians lost their lives in eastern Anatolia after some sided with the invading Russians and revolted against the Ottoman forces. The subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties, with massacres by militaries and militia groups from both sides increasing the death toll.
Turkey objects to the presentation of the incidents as “genocide” but describes the 1915 events as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.
Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission made up of historians from Turkey and Armenia and international experts to tackle the issue.
During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict last year, Ankara supported Baku and accused Yerevan of occupying Azerbaijan’s territories.
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