Experts' Group for Normalizing Relations with Turkey Revealed
According to the newspaper "Hraparak," "A working group of experts is supposed to assist Ruben Rubinyan, Armenia’s representative for normalizing relations with Turkey. This group is expected to complement Rubinyan’s knowledge and experience shortfalls and will be composed of diplomats and Foreign Ministry staff. Both Rubinyan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan have confirmed this.
However, in response to inquiries from the media, the Foreign Ministry has been withholding specific names of those involved in this group, citing privacy concerns, and stating that they can only provide information with the consent of these specialists. This means that even the circle of individuals deciding on crucial issues for our country and people is kept secret from the public.
It is only known that the advisory group has been formed based on the Foreign Ministry’s department for neighboring countries, and discussions are underway with sector experts. According to sources in the Foreign Ministry, Rubinyan’s chief advisor for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is Arsen Avagyan, Armenia’s ambassador to Iran, who was appointed last October and previously led the aforementioned department for neighboring countries. He is a specialist in Turkish studies.
In addition to him, other Turkish experts from the same department are also involved in the group.
Additionally, we were told that an active role is also played by Jirair Liparitian, an advisor to Armenia’s first president and an advocate for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, who communicates directly with Nikol Pashinyan and provides him advice.
For more details, refer to the current issue of the newspaper.