The envoys were appointed earlier this month after the governments of the two neighboring states said they will try to normalize bilateral relations.
Ankara will be represented in the upcoming talks by Serdar Kilic, an experienced diplomat who served as Turkey’s ambassador to the United States from 2014-2021. Kilic’s 31-year-old Armenian counterpart, Ruben Rubinian, is a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament.
“It seems to us that the first meeting of the negotiators will take place in Moscow,” Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara. “The Armenian side has expressed such a desire.”
“We want the two sides to have direct contacts before the meeting. The envoys were appointed for a direct dialogue,” he said, adding that they should work out a “roadmap” to a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Vahan Hunanian, said in this regard that the two sides are discussing the possibility of holding the first round of Turkish-Armenian talks in Moscow. No date has been set for the talks yet, Hunanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Russia as well as the United States have welcomed the announcement of Turkish-Armenian normalization talks. Yerevan asked Moscow last month to assist in that dialogue.
Ankara has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and kept the Turkish-Armenian border closed out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It provided decisive military support to Baku during last year’s Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
In recent months Turkish leaders have made statements making the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on Armenia agreeing to open a land corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. They have also cited Baku’s demands for a formal Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.
Cavusoglu reiterated on Monday that Ankara will continue to coordinate its Armenian policy with Baku.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained last month that the Turks are setting “new preconditions” for establishing diplomatic relations and opening the border with Armenia. His spokesman insisted afterwards that Yerevan continues to stand for “normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions.”