On February 15, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with Foreign Minister of Türkiye Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Ankara, followed by the press statement of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Türkiye. In his remarks, Foreign Minister Mirzoyan particularly noted:
“Dear Mr. Çavuşoğlu,
Dear attendees,
First of all, on behalf of the Republic of Armenia, I once again express my condolences to the families of thousands of victims of the devastating earthquake, to the people and Government of Turkey, and wish a speedy recovery to all the injured.
One of the most bitter pages in the history of my people was the devastating earthquake of Spitak in 1988, and today we can relate to the grief that befell thousands of families in Turkey.
Similar natural disasters and their scale extend beyond the borders of states, becoming universal tragedies. And the world should work together as a united front in order to overcome them. I believe that the international community should never remain indifferent in case of any humanitarian crisis occurring in any corner of the planet. And according to this very principle, the Government of the Republic of Armenia decided to send rescuers and humanitarian aid to Türkiye immediately after the devastating earthquake.
I thank Mr. Çavuşoğlu for his words of appreciation to our rescuers and, generally, for the Armenian presence and support.
I am glad that our Armenian rescuers, in cooperation with their colleagues, managed to do what is most important in this situation: to save human lives.
I consider it symbolic that on Saturday the Armenian-Turkish border, which has been closed for thirty years, was opened for Armenian trucks loaded with humanitarian aid heading to Adiyaman. The same happened last night, and hours later another batch of humanitarian aid will reach Adiyaman.
Dear attendees,
Certainly, our meeting today is determined by the disaster that has claimed many lives, however, being in Turkey at this difficult moment, I would like to once again reiterate the readiness and willingness of the Republic of Armenia to build peace in the region and, particularly, to fully normalise relations with Turkey, establish diplomatic relations and fully open the border between Armenia and Turkey.
I would like to inform, as Minister Çavuşoğlu stated a little while ago, that today we have discussed some details on this process, and we have an agreement to jointly repair the Ani bridge, as well as take care of the relevant infrastructure ahead of the full opening of the border”.
