Ruben Rubinian, Armenia’s top negotiator, and his Turkish counterpart, Serdar Kilic, met in Moscow on Friday. In virtually identical statements, the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries described the talks as “positive and constructive.” They said the two envoys agreed to continue the dialogue “without preconditions.”
“Very substantive issues were not discussed at the first meeting,” Rubinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in an interview. “We discussed general approaches to the process. … It’s still too early to say what kind of approaches Turkey will take.”
“We must try to achieve peace in the region and our position is sincere,” he said. “We expect Turkey to demonstrate a similar position because it’s simply impossible for Turkey to pursue a policy in the region without having a relationship with Armenia.”
Rubinian, who is a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament, said that Yerevan hopes that the next round of negotiations will be more “substantive.”
“We are interested in solving real issues and those include, first of all, the opening of the [Turkish-Armenian] border and, secondly, the establishment of diplomatic relations,” he explained.
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 Nagorno-Karabakh.
Rubinian insisted that he did not discuss these demands with Kilic in Moscow. Yerevan continues to stand for an unconditional normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties, he said.
Armenian opposition leaders remain unconvinced by such assurances, saying that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian is ready to accept Turkish preconditions relating to not only the Karabakh conflict but also the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
Rubinian faced harsh criticism from opposition lawmakers when he chaired a session of the National Assembly earlier on Monday. Some of them deplored what they see as the secrecy of the Turkish-Armenian dialogue welcomed by Russia, the United States and the European Union.
“When you say that ‘we learn about everything from Turkey’ … there has not been a single development about which our foreign ministry has not informed [the public,]” responded Rubinian.
The 31-year-old vice-speaker lost his cool when some deputies from the main opposition Hayastan alliance cited the fact that he lived in Istanbul for several months in 2017-2018 on a scholarly exchange program to accuse him of promoting Turkish interests in Armenia.
“I’ll do whatever I want,” Rubinian shouted before walking off the parliament podium and menacingly approaching Hayastan’s parliamentary group.
With the shouting match nearly degenerating into a violent clash between pro-government and opposition deputies, Rubinian rushed back to his seat and interrupted the parliament session. The deputies continued to argue on the parliament floor during the break.