YEREVAN. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Armenia and Turkey have agreed to expedite their dialogue with the aim of opening the border between the two countries, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.
"Concrete agreements have been reached. There is a decision to expedite the dialogue process in order to finally open the border between Armenia and Turkey," Mirzoyan said at a government meeting on Thursday, presenting the results of his February 15 visit to Turkey.
The parties also agreed to open the Armenia-Turkey border to citizens of third countries and to holders of Armenian and Turkish diplomatic passports prior to the start of the tourist season, he said.
The Armenian rescuers sent to Turkey following the earthquake there will return home on Thursday via the land border, the minister said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, said that the assistance extended by Armenia to Turkey is of a purely humanitarian nature.
"This criticism toward us is absolutely unacceptable, as I cannot imagine a situation that someone may stay indifferent when millions of people in a neighboring country are in need of help. It is unacceptable," Pashinyan said.
On the other hand, Armenia emphasizes the need to change the quality of relations in the region, he said.
"It is a pity that certain changes are taking place in conditions of this tragedy. But, probably, human tragedies enable people to understand each other better. It is objective reality. I hope that it could become a new starting point for establishing relations between Armenia and Turkey," he said.
A concept design for rebuilding the Ani bridge on the Armenia-Turkey border is ready, Pashinyan said.