An Armenian cargo truck carrying humanitarian assistance crosses the Armenia-Turkey border in February, 2023
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia is ready to fully normalize relations with Turkey. Speaking at a conference in Berlin on Wednesday, Pashinyan also added that Yerevan wanted to establish diplomatic relations with Ankara.
“We hope to fully open our common border, which was unilaterally closed by Turkey in the early 1990s. There are some small but encouraging signs of moving this forward,” Pashinyan said when speaking at the German Foreign Relations Council in a talk entitled “Armenia’s Outlook on Security and Stability in the South Caucasus,” reported Armenia’s Channel One News.
“In July 2022, the special representatives of our countries agreed to establish air cargo transportation and open interstate borders for citizens of third countries,” added Pashinyan. “The ban on direct air cargo between Turkey and Armenia was lifted in January, and we hope that the border will soon be opened to third-country nationals.”
Pashinyan also discussed his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey last year in Prague, where they discussed the prospects for normalization of relations.
“After the last devastating earthquake, Armenia reacted quickly. I called President Erdogan to express my condolences and offered our support. After that, we sent humanitarian aid and a rescue team to the affected regions,” explained Pashinyan.
“It is very important to state that two convoys of humanitarian aid entered Turkey through the border bridge, which has been closed for 30 years. Our rescue squad returned to Armenia via that same bridge. The Foreign Minister of Armenia visited Turkey, met with his counterpart and reaffirmed our readiness to fully regulate relations,” added the prime minister.
“Although the recent contacts were, of course, purely humanitarian in nature, we would still be happy to see political results as well,” he stressed.