Armenian PM in Turkiye for ‘historic’ visit aimed at normalising ties

Nikol Pashinyan’s sojourn marks Ankara and Yerevan’s 2nd effort astatine reconciliation.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is connected a uncommon sojourn to Istanbul to clasp talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, successful what Yerevan has described arsenic a “historic” measurement towards determination peace.

The sojourn forms portion of the 2 countries’ efforts to normalise ties strained implicit humanities disputes and Ankara’s confederation with Azerbaijan, which has been successful a long-simmering struggle with Armenia.

“This is simply a historical visit, arsenic it volition beryllium the archetypal clip a caput of the Republic of Armenia visits Turkiye astatine this level. All determination issues volition beryllium discussed,” Armenian parliament talker Alen Simonyan told reporters connected Friday. “The risks of warfare [with Azerbaijan] are presently minimal, and we indispensable enactment to neutralise them. Pashinyan’s sojourn to Turkiye is simply a measurement successful that direction.”

Pashinyan’s sojourn comes a time aft Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held talks successful Turkiye with Erdogan, during which helium praised the Turkish-Azerbaijani confederation arsenic “a important factor, not lone regionally but besides globally”, and Erdogan reiterated his enactment for “the constitution of bid betwixt Azerbaijan and Armenia”.

Baku and Yerevan agreed connected the substance of a bid deal successful March, but Baku has since outlined a big of demands, including changes to Armenia’s constitution, that it wants met earlier it volition motion the document.

Pashinyan is scheduled to conscionable Erdogan astatine Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace astatine 15:00 GMT, Erdogan’s bureau said.

An Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs authoritative told the AFP quality bureau that the brace volition sermon efforts to motion a broad bid treaty.

The determination fallout from the Israel-Iran conflict, which began past Friday erstwhile Israel launched respective waves of aerial strikes targeting Iran’s atomic facilities and subject sites, volition besides beryllium discussed.

Armenia and Turkiye person ne'er established ceremonial diplomatic ties, and their shared borderline has been closed since 1993.

Attempts astatine normalisation

Relations betwixt the 2 nations person been historically strained implicit the World War I-era wide killings of Armenians successful the Ottoman Empire – atrocities historians and Yerevan accidental magnitude to genocide. Turkiye rejects the label, contending that portion galore radical died successful that era, the decease toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civilian unrest.

Ankara has besides backed its adjacent ally, Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan, successful the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh struggle with Armenia. This region, which had a mostly taste Armenian colonisation astatine the time, broke distant from Azerbaijan with enactment from Armenia successful the precocious 1980s. In 2020, Turkiye backed Azerbaijan successful its 2nd warfare with Armenia, which ended aft six weeks with a Russia-brokered bid woody that saw Azerbaijan summation power of a important portion of the region.

Pashinyan has actively sought to normalise relations with some Baku and Ankara.

Ankara and Yerevan appointed peculiar envoys successful precocious 2021 to pb a normalisation process, and resumed commercialized flights successful 2022 aft a two-year pause.

Earlier this year, Pashinyan announced Armenia would halt its run for planetary designation of the 1915 wide killings of Armenians arsenic genocide – a large concession to Turkiye that sparked wide disapproval astatine home.

Pashinyan’s archetypal sojourn to Turkiye was to be Erdogan’s inauguration successful 2023.

This is Ankara and Yerevan’s 2nd effort astatine reconciliation. Turkiye and Armenia reached an statement successful 2009 to found ceremonial relations and unfastened their shared border, but the woody was ne'er ratified due to the fact that of beardown absorption from Azerbaijan.