AA / Washington / Diyar Guldogan
“Significant progress has been recorded towards normalization between Türkiye and Armenia without preconditions,” welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish head of state met on Tuesday with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Turkish House in New York, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly.
According to the Communications Directorate of the Turkish Presidency, the two men discussed normalization between Turkey and Armenia and the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Erdogan affirmed to Pashinyan Ankara’s support for “establishing lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia and establishing solid friendship between the two countries in this new era.” Erdogan also indicated the willingness of Türkiye to support this process.
The Turkish president also expressed his “sincere support” for the continuation of the dialogue process with Armenia.
Türkiye recognized Armenia in 1991 after its declaration of independence. However, Ankara severed diplomatic and trade relations with Yerevan in 1993 during the First Karabakh War, which began with Armenian attacks on Azerbaijan.
After the end of the Second Karabakh War in 2020, Ankara and Yerevan mutually appointed special representatives in 2021 to normalize their relations.
Following a series of meetings between Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan, direct flights were resumed in February 2022. It was also agreed to open the border between Türkiye and Armenia to third-country nationals and to begin air cargo exchanges between the two countries in July of the same year.
Last July, the special representatives held their fifth meeting at the Alican-Margara border post and reaffirmed their commitment to continue the normalization process “without preconditions.”
Only part of the dispatches, which the Anadolu Agency broadcasts to its subscribers via the Internal Broadcasting System (HAS), is broadcast on the AA website, in summary form. Please contact us to subscribe.
