During the first session of the 9th convocation of the National Assembly, regarding the election of the president of the NA, Gegham Manukyan from the 'Armenia' faction and Agnessa Khmoyan raised questions about the normalization of relations with Turkey, with Manukyan noting that Turkey has set preconditions during the normalization process.
Rubinyan, agreeing with the deputy that during this time there have been statements from Turkey linking the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey with other processes, said:
“I believe that in fact, the Armenia-Azerbaijan process is now more advanced than the Armenia-Turkey process, because in the Armenia-Azerbaijan process, for example, the Azerbaijani side lifted the restrictions on railway transit from Armenia earlier than Turkey did. Turkey also lifted them. Or there is now direct trade between Armenia and Azerbaijan, referring to oil products. I believe it is time for Turkey to show more active progress in the Armenia-Turkey normalization process. This has long matured, and I do not know the reason and cannot point out why Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations tomorrow, and why the Armenia-Turkey border will not open tomorrow.
Has the process gone at the speed I would like to see? No, I would like to see that the process was completed years ago, but agree that the Armenia-Turkey process has been a complex one, and in fact, since the first years of Armenia's independence, all governments have tried to successfully conclude this process.
However, the candidate for the presidency of the NA expressed confidence that the full normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey is a matter of time, and the normalization is very close.
