Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made a rare visit to Istanbul to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in what Yerevan described as a “historic” step towards regional peace.
The visit was part of the two countries’ efforts to normalize ties strained over historical disputes and Ankara’s alliance with Azerbaijan, which has been in a long-simmering conflict with Armenia. Turkey will support Armenia’s peace efforts with Azerbaijan, Erdogan’s office said after the meeting at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace. The two leaders also discussed possible steps for Turkey-Armenia normalisation, the office said.
Baku and Yerevan agreed on the text of a peace deal in March, but Baku has since outlined a host of demands, including changes to Armenia’s constitution, that it wants met before it will sign the document. Turkey and Armenia have no formal diplomatic ties and their shared border has been closed since 1993. The meeting in Istanbul – the first “working visit” by Pashinyan to Turkey – marks a significant step in reconciliation efforts between the pair. Ankara and Yerevan appointed special envoys in late 2021 to lead a normalization process, and resumed commercial flights in 2022 after a two-year pause. Earlier this year, Pashinyan announced Armenia would halt its campaign for international recognition of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide – a major concession to Turkey that sparked widespread criticism at home.
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