Turkish, Armenian special representatives to meet on Jan 14

The first meeting of special representatives from Turkiye and Armenia will be held on Jan 14, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.

Moscow will host the special envoys' meeting to discuss steps for normalizing bilateral relations.

Serdar Kilic, a former ambassador to the US, was designated Turkiye's special envoy to discuss steps towards normalization with neighboring Armenia on Dec. 15. Three days later, Armenia appointed National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan its special representative for dialogue with Turkiye.

In their first meeting, the envoys will exchange views on a roadmap for moving forward, including confidence-building measures, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview last week.

Russia last week announced that it supports talks between Turkiye and Armenia to normalize ties, stressing that "the whole world will benefit from this reestablishment of neighborly relations."

Turkiye and Armenia have long been divided by a number of issues, from Armenia's refusal to recognize their shared border to historical incidents with the Ottoman Empire's Armenian population in 1915, during World War I.