Armenian FM: Negotiations between Armenia and Turkey were held before Erdogan wrote to Kocharyan

Negotiations and meetings between Armenian and Turkish diplomats have always taken place, at a higher or at a lower level, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told journalists on June 8.

“However, recently allegations have appeared in the Turkish press that the talks between the two states were initiated by the letter of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. This is not true, meetings were held before that,” Oskanian said.

Turkish sources claim that Erdogan’s letter was followed by three privy meetings between Turkish and Armenian diplomats. The last of the meetings, i. e. the third round of negotiations, was held in March in the margins of the summit of the three European Union countries in Vienna. Head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry Abdullah Gul took personal part in the talks.