Turkish, Armenian officials hold 2nd meeting in Vienna

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - The second meeting between special envoys from Turkiye and Armenia to discuss steps for normalizing ties between the two countries was held in Vienna on Thursday.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement announced the meeting between the special representatives of Turkiye and Armenia, "respectively, Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan," in the Austrian capital.

The statement said the Turkish and Armenian envoys have "confirmed that the ultimate goal of the negotiations is to achieve full normalization" between the two countries as agreed during their first meeting in Moscow.

"They exchanged views on possible concrete steps that can be mutually taken to that end and reiterated their agreement to continue the process without preconditions," it added.

Last December Kilic was named Turkiye's special envoy to discuss steps towards normalization with neighboring Armenia, with Rubinyan named as his counterpart days later.

Talks were first held in the Russian capital Moscow on Jan. 14. According to a joint statement, the parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions.

As part of the efforts, Turkey and Armenia have also resumed commercial flights between the two countries.

The two countries have been divided on a range of issues, including Armenia’s refusal to recognize a shared border, its nearly three-decade occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the 1915 events between the Ottoman Empire and Armenians.