Mirzoyan Discusses the 'Peace Crossroads' Initiative at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum

It sounds good when we talk about connectivity, enhancing international trade and transit, cultural and people-to-people communication. From an economic perspective, the expansion of connectivity and mutual dependency will be beneficial.

Ararat Mirzoyan, the Armenian Foreign Minister, stated this at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum, as reported by Lurer. He emphasized, “My country, Armenia, is a landlocked country, and we fully understand the importance of the aforementioned, if not more, at least no less than the people gathered in this room. Moreover, we have only four neighbors and only two open borders; the borders with other countries remain closed. We are negotiating with both neighboring countries to open the borders and establish normal relations.”

He pointed out that apart from the economic aspect, there is a political dimension to the issue, and connectivity, which is economically beneficial, is also a significant factor for sustainable peace. Mirzoyan underlined that this is also relevant to our region.

“Therefore, to demonstrate Armenia's willingness, we have launched the 'Peace Crossroads' initiative. We see this program not only as an economic tool but also as a potential factor for peace,” the Foreign Minister of Armenia stated.

Presenting the 'Peace Crossroads' initiative and its underlying principles, he expressed hope that the forum participants would consider them justly. Mirzoyan especially emphasized the unblocking of transportation communication based on sovereignty and national legislation. The Foreign Minister highlighted that cooperation must be built on the basis of equality and reciprocity.