Turkiye, Armenia reaffirm goal of ‘achieving full normalization’

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish and Armenian envoys for the normalization of ties between the two countries reaffirmed their goal of “achieving full normalization,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

“The special representatives reaffirmed the declared goal of achieving full normalization between their respective countries through this process,” the ministry said in a statement following the third meeting of Turkish and Armenian envoys in the Austrian capital Vienna.

The envoys discussed the possible steps that can be taken for the tangible progress in normalization, the statement added.

Turkiye’s Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan “reiterated their agreement to continue the process without preconditions,” it added.

Kilic was named as Turkiye’s special envoy to discuss steps towards normalization with neighboring Armenia on Dec. 15, 2021. Three days later, Armenia appointed its own special representative Rubinyan.

The first round of talks was held in Russia’s capital Moscow on Jan. 14, where both parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions. Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second time in Vienna on Feb. 24.

Also, a historic bilateral meeting took place between the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkiye on March 12.

As part of the efforts, Turkiye and Armenia have also resumed commercial flights as of Feb. 2 after a two-year hiatus.

The two countries have been divided on a range of issues, including the 1915 events in the Ottoman Empire and Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1993, since when the land border between Turkiye and Armenia has been closed.

On Oct. 10, 2009, the two neighboring countries signed a peace accord, known as the Zurich Protocols, to establish diplomatic relations and open the border, but failed to ratify the agreement in their respective national parliaments.

Relations between Ankara and Yerevan entered a new phase in the fall of 2020 with the end of the second Nagorno-Karabakh war, which lasted 44 days in which Turkiye helped Azerbaijan recapture its territory.