'Significant progress' made towards Türkiye-Armenia normalization: Erdogan

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - A "significant progress" has been made towards normalization between Ankara and Yerevan "without preconditions," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.

Erdogan received Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Turkish House on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, where they discussed Türkiye-Armenia normalization, and peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The president said that "Türkiye supports the establishment of lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the establishment of a solid friendship between the two countries in the new period," according to Türkiye's Communications Directorate.

He also said that Ankara is ready to assist this process.

Erdogan also expressed his "sincere support" for the continuation of the dialogue process with Armenia.

Türkiye recognized Armenia in 1991 following its declaration of independence. However, Ankara severed diplomatic and commercial relations with Yerevan in 1993 amid the First Karabakh War, which began with Armenia’s attacks on Azerbaijan.

After the Second Karabakh War ended in 2020, Ankara and Yerevan mutually appointed special representatives in 2021 to normalize ties.

After a series of meetings between Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Armenia’s National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, direct flights restarted in February 2022 and it was agreed to open the Türkiye-Armenia border for citizens of third countries and to commence air cargo trade between the two countries that July.

This July, the special representatives held their fifth meeting at the countries’ Alican-Margara border crossing and reaffirmed a commitment to pursue the normalization process "without preconditions."