Hakan Fidan, the Turkish Foreign Minister, said that the conclusion of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan would create a basis for improving relations between Yerevan and Ankara. Fidan thanked Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for his contribution to this process and expressed hope for the signing of a final agreement in Washington in the first half of next year.

During his speech at a conference in Rome organized by the Institute of International Relations, Fidan also touched upon other important international issues. In particular, he criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. Discussing the situation in Ukraine, the Turkish Foreign Minister noted that diplomacy is the only realistic way to resolve the conflict, and recalled the efforts to organize talks in Istanbul.

The day before, special representatives for the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey, Vice Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan and Ambassador Serdar Kilic, held their sixth meeting in Yerevan. They confirmed agreements with the aim of advancing the process of fully restoring ties between the countries.