Edward Nalbandyan to Attend Erdogan’s Inauguration

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan will be traveling to Turkey on August 28 to attend the inauguration of president-elect Ragip Tayyip Erdogan. Over the weekend, President Serzh Sargsyan announced that Armenia had received an invitation by Turkish authorities to participate in the inaugural ceremonies and would most likely send a minister from Armenia.

During Erdogan’s presidential campaign, he had said that it is an insult to be called an Armenian. During an interview on August 10, Serzh Sargsyan responded by saying that it would be an insult if it were discovered that Erdogan was indeed Armenian.  Nonetheless, following the presidential elections in Turkey and Erdogan’s subsequent victory at the polls, Sargsyan sent a congratulatory letter to the president-elect urging Erdogan to normalize Turkish-Armenian relations “without preconditions.”