Turkish Press: Azerbaijan, Armenian foreign ministers discuss regional issues

Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Mar 27 2026

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan noted ‘with satisfaction’ positive progress in ongoing normalization process between 2 countries, says Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry

Kanyshai Butun

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan discussed regional issues as well as engagements in multilateral platforms in a phone call on Friday.

According to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, the top diplomats noted “with satisfaction” the positive progress in the ongoing normalization process between the two countries.

This is the second talk that has taken place this month.

Earlier on March 5, Bayramov and Mirzoyan spoke by phone about the recent drone attack on Nakhchivan, which caused damage to civilian infrastructure and injured civilians.

In August 2025, the two Southern Caucasus neighbors signed a joint declaration at a trilateral summit at the White House along with US President Donald Trump, aiming to end decades of conflict, with commitments to cease hostilities, reopen transport routes, and normalize relations.

Pashinyan, Koshta and von der Leyen will meet at the first RA-EU summit in Yerevan

2026 On May 4 and 5, the inaugural RA-EU summit will be held in Yerevan, at which the Republic of Armenia will be represented by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and the European Union will be represented by the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, together with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Foreign Ministry reports.


Ahead of the summit, Presidents Kosta and von der Leyen will also attend the 2026 Summit. at the 8th Summit of the European Political Community to be held on May 4 in Yerevan.


The focus of the RA-EU summit will be on the strengthening of bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of economy, energy, transport, digital, people-to-people contacts. The leaders will also discuss progress towards peace, security, connectivity and prosperity in the South Caucasus, as well as current global challenges.

Verelq: Is the state identified with the government? Mirzoyan’s dangerous formula

The statement made recently by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ararat Mirzoyan, that “if the opposition wins the elections, the existence of the independent Republic of Armenia will be greatly doubted”, is a dangerous attempt to identify statehood and power.


In fact, without any evidence, the high-ranking official attributes to the opposition a behavior that threatens the existence of the state. This is a bare-bones political labeling that does not meet the minimum standards of state responsibility.


In the political sphere, we are dealing with a technology that has been used for a long time: the government is presented as a guarantor of peace, and the opposition as a source of war. This simplified scheme is an attempt to influence the voter’s behavior through the fear factor. The public is actually presented with a false dilemma, not between plans and solutions, but between fear and the “promise of stability”.


The most problematic, however, is Mirzoyan’s state status. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, whose mission is to represent the state’s interests in foreign relations, comes out with harsh, biased formulations in the internal political struggle. As a result, the diplomatic institution is politicized and gradually loses its national character.


Finally, this statement should be considered in a wider context. When the government presents itself as the only guarantor of the state’s existence, a dangerous logic is formed: the change of government is equated with the loss of statehood. This contradicts the fundamental principle of democracy and is a manifestation of authoritarian thinking.


By and large, the problem is the political thinking of Pashinyan and his team, which limits competition, manipulates public fears and subjugates state institutions to party interests.


Political scientist Suren Surenyants




A dangerous precedent for legitimation. How does Alen Simonyan justify the Baku city?

March: 24, 2026

Journalists from NA Speaker Alen Simonyan at the National Assembly today were interested in What will happen to those Artsakh citizens who went to Kornidzor yesterday to take photos against the background of Artsakh, and on the way back, the National Security Service confiscated their phones? In response, he first considered it necessary to make a question-“remark”, noting:

“I want to ask, why do you say Artsakh? I am just curious. Then why do you feel bad when some territories of the Republic of Armenia are given Azerbaijani names, and Sevan is given some other name somewhere, do you feel bad, why do you feel bad? Why don’t you give the same name to the Constitution of Karabakh, it’s just interesting, because you are all politicized, you are all busy presenting demanding things. In that case, I ask you, don’t feel bad that in some country, some person can say to Yerevan: Yerevan, and say something else to Sevan. Karabakh also belongs to Azerbaijan, so why do you give it another name?

Can we say that the representative of the government, who leads the legislative body, accusing his political rivals of “making war-provoking statements” is legitimizing a possible new war in Armenia and giving legitimate grounds for it? Moreover, before this, Alen Simonyan has already managed to legitimize Baku’s military-political plan to start a war against Artsakh and Armenia in September 2020. Specifically, in 2024 “Freedom” in the conversation with, to the question whether Azerbaijan had a legitimate right to attack Karabakh, Simonyan answered: «Azerbaijan carried out an operation in Karabakh under which it had at least 3-4 UN resolutions»:

In this context, let us remind that in 1992-1996 The head of the mediation mission of Russia, the luminary Vladimir Kazimirov, said at the time that Azerbaijan did not fulfill the 4 resolutions of the United Nations.

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“All of them have failed, they have not been implemented. And by whom were they not implemented: Azerbaijan? In 1993 in the spring Armenians captured Kelbajar. The success of this operation provided the Armenians with another route connecting Karabakh and Armenia in addition to the Lachin Corridor. After that, Azerbaijan takes the initiative to discuss this issue in the Security Council.

SC in 1993 on April 30, adopts resolution 822 on the issue of Nagorno Karabakh. Baku expected that the resolution would include a demand for Armenians to release the occupied Azerbaijani territories. However, the Azerbaijani side did not take into account that this demand in the document will be preceded by an important demand to immediately stop fire, military operations and even “hostile operations”.

And what constitutes “hostile action”? It is the energy, economic, transportation blockade of the Armenian territories. Baku did not expect this. And that is the most important demand in all four resolutions – the cessation of fire.

However, Azerbaijan was still under illusions that it would be able to defeat the Armenians by force. Its potential is, of course, more significant or respectable, both in terms of territory, population, and armament, because after the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan received more military assets than Armenia. For example, the Aghdam depots were the strategic reserves of the Soviet Army in Transcaucasia. There are about 16 airports in Azerbaijan, and only 2-3 in Armenia. But potential alone is not enough to win. After the adoption of Resolution 822, I convinced the Americans and even the Turks.

And the three of us – Russia, the USA and Turkey – addressed all three sides of the problem with a written question. “Are you ready for the full implementation of Resolution 822?” Yerevan and Stepanakert gave their consent, Baku chose not to respond at all. for he hoped nevertheless to win. That is why the war did not stop. And the four resolutions of the UN Security Council regarding Karabakh were practically devalued. The SC was already unwilling to accept the fifth resolution because it would undermine its authority. he makes resolutions and they are not fulfilled. That is why, when we were working on the ceasefire agreement, we could not work on the basis of Security Council resolutions. We had to create another basis for ourselves.” in 2016 “Moscow Komsomolets” given to the periodical in the interview explained Kazimirov.

In other words, Azerbaijan has always accused the Republic of Armenia of not fulfilling the UN resolutions, and it did so even days before the 44-day war.

of 2020 on September 21 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in connection with the opening of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly in New York video message remembered the UN resolutions and emphasized. “We have only one condition to achieve peace: the armed forces of Armenia must be withdrawn from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.”

If we accept for a moment that Azerbaijan had a legitimate right to attack Artsakh, then why was Armenia in a hurry to declare martial law in RA on September 27, 2020, why did it not stop the war in the first days, why was the same Alen Simonyan in October 2020, when the war was still going on, with “Azatutya” in the interview declares that there is two choices: one is “Lavrov’s plan”, which is unacceptable to him, the other is to make a breakthrough in the war, which he believed we had the opportunity to do.

6 years after the war, can Alen Simonyan say whether we made a mistake, that we started an “illegitimate” struggle against the “legitimate right” of Azerbaijan, or on what basis was he sure in mid-October 2020 that we would be able to make a breakthrough, and why they didn’t introduce, moreover, why the “Lavrov Plan” was unacceptable, but the Prague documents of 2022 were acceptable, by which the entire Artsakh passed to Azerbaijan. They will say that they protected the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, but why didn’t they try to do it by preventing the war, for example, with the “Lavrov Plan”, and who questioned the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia with the mileage by which Armenia gained independence?

Let’s not forget that the current government in 2019, represented by the Secretary of the Council of Ministers Armen Grigoryan, noted that their “freedoms and united dreams are protected on the territory of 42.000 square meters”. They will say again if they made a mistake, and did Alen Simonyan read that in Nikol Pashinyan’s quote “All prerequisites for peace are present” the article where he, in particular, noted.

“I have stated several times that even The territories of more than 200 square kilometers, which are an integral part of the 29,743 square kilometers of internationally recognized sovereign territory of RA, which are currently under the occupation of Azerbaijan…»:

The occupied territories were not returned, right? Actually, it turns out that there is no territory of 29,743 square kilometers, or is it a mental mistake in this case as well?

Aren’t the current authorities making a lot of mistakes… and in fact, it’s not a mistake, but a politically calculated move that is advantageous at the moment, this also applies to the “Aghdam is our homeland” campaign, which has been repeatedly mentioned letterwe went which was later confirmed by Alen Simonyan himself, that the goal was to oppose Serzh Sargsyan.

And what do you think about the then president of Artsakh in September 2019? Was calling Bako Sahakyan a governor by chance? of course not. And the question is that during the question-and-answer session with journalists today, NA Speaker Alen Simonyan, in fact, did not rule out that there may be some change of views in the future, because today’s ideological transformation was conditioned by the rapidly changing challenges and developments in the world.

Naturally, Armenia should be able to move in line with geopolitical developments and combine its interest, the national interest, with the interests of other states, but are these authorities doing this?

Some of the examples given by Alen Simonyan are absolutely not about that, you cannot start a campaign after the change of power: “Aghdam is our homeland” when The third president of RA, Serzh Sargsyan, clearly explained why Aghdam had to be taken and why he said, “Aghdam is not our homeland”, but only a piece of his speech was taken and manipulated.

Or, what does the changing world have to do with the students of historian-teacher Suren Papikyan? taught for example, that Azerbaijanis are Caucasian Tatars, who, due to one or another circumstance, penetrated into our region, and now, perhaps, it is the bearer of a different “historical reality”.

You cannot, having a higher education, at some stage consider not only Artsakh, but also a certain part of RA as Armenian, and then as Azerbaijani, but take as a basis the declaration of Alma Ata of 1991, the map of 1975, etc. This is not an entirely positive change. Of course, geopolitical realities teach us to revise tactics, but not to rewrite historical facts. Today, no one says that the lost Artsakh should be taken back by force, or that it should be returned there, because the current realities do not give it the “right”. No one is saying that you have to start from scratch and “delete” the Washington documents, but of course you can fill them in, especially against Iran. in the background of war. What, the war against Iran did not give rise to consequences?

As for the fact that Azerbaijan calls Yerevan “Irevan”, Sevan – “Goycha”, and so on, then this is not a retaliatory action, Aliyev never conditioned either this or the “Western Azerbaijan” political project (which existed before the 2020 war) with this, but the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia is observing in the context of international human rights. This is a state policy, within the framework of which “scientific-legal evidence” is created, including a virtual encyclopedia about “Western Azerbaijan”. resource, which includes maps, and which, in particular, includes “Yerevan and Gyumri, mosques, graves and 1192 villages”, a dictionary of “Western Zangezur” place names, etc. Moreover, they regularly warn that all this will not remain on paper, there will be a physical return and control.

Let us emphasize that Aliyev does not condition this on whether the journalists say Artsakh or Karabakh. And the Declaration of Independence is removed from the RA constitution purely based on some political ambitions, tactics and maybe “fears”, but its exclusion will not prevent Aliyev’s political plans related to “Western Azerbaijan”, which Pashinyan’s government might one day start lobbying, and now, before the elections, they do not emphasize it so that my mood does not fall. Not excluded.

After a ten-year hiatus, Armenia and Pakistan will appoint ambassadors

Photo: mfa.am

After decades of diplomatic vacuum, Armenia and Pakistan are moving to the practical stage of building bilateral ties. Yerevan and Islamabad have started the process of accreditation of non-resident ambassadors, finally closing the page of historical differences.


This significant step was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia during the session of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly on March 23 Ararat Mirzoyan. According to the head of the foreign political department, the lack of contacts with Islamabad remained a complex geopolitical knot for many years, directly connected with Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Turkish relations. However, last year the parties managed to reach a historic mutual understanding.


Mirzoyan emphasized that the Pakistani side gave considerable solemnity to the fact of establishing relations. Currently, the states are in active contact and are preparing for the accreditation of diplomatic representatives, who will be non-resident at this stage. The minister also added that, in addition to Pakistan, Yerevan established official diplomatic relations with Lesotho and Solomon Islands last year.


Let’s remind that Armenia and Pakistan officially established diplomatic relations on August 31, 2025. The signing ceremony of the joint communique was held in Tianjin, China, within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. This historic event signaled the end of the long period when Pakistan was the only country in the world that did not recognize the independence of the Republic of Armenia.

Housing for servicemembers on waiting list to be streamlined

Army13:41, 21 March 2026
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The Armenian government plans to address the housing needs of military personnel on the waiting list within the next four years, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has announced.

“The decision is being finalized now, funding is being released, and within four years, all the houses will be provided,” the Prime Minister said during a meeting with residents of Martuni in Gegharkunik province.

Defense Minister Suren Papikyan added that the plan aims to resolve approximately 800 housing cases annually for personnel registered on the waiting list.

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Israel says Iranian Intelligence Minister killed overnight

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Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said on ‌Wednesday that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was “eliminated” in a strike ⁠overnight, Reuters reports.

There has been no confirmation from Iran regarding Khatib’s reported death.

Katz said he and Israeli Prime Minister ‌Benjamin ⁠Netanyahu had authorized the military to kill any other senior ⁠Iranian official being targeted without the need ⁠for additional approval, according to Reuters.

The report comes after Iranian state media confirmed Tuesday that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was killed in an airstrike.

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Armenpress: Armenian Foreign Ministry Secretary General presents concept of th

Armenia22:06, 18 March 2026
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The Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, David Karapetyan, received the heads of diplomatic missions and representatives of international organizations accredited in Armenia, the foreign ministry said in a readout.

The Secretary General presented the concept of the third “Yerevan Dialogue” international forum, scheduled to take place on May 5–6, and provided an overview of the ongoing preparations for the event.

The participants were also briefed on the “Yerevan Dialogue Young Fellows 2026” initiative, to be organized within the framework of the forum.

Views were exchanged on the concept of the forum, as well as on possible formats of participation.

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Armenia and Bulgaria explore bilateral cooperation, including direct air conne

Davit Khudatyan16:09, 16 March 2026
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Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Davit Khudatyan held a meeting with the Ambassador of Bulgaria to Armenia, Nikola Nikolov.

Minister Khudatyan highlighted the need to deepen bilateral relations, the ministry said in a readout.

Issues related to transportation, energy, and local self-government were discussed.

The two sides emphasized the importance of interregional cooperation between regions and communities. The Minister also stressed the necessity of direct air connections with Bulgaria. A number of other issues of bilateral interest were also discussed.

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“I don’t know what building they are moving to, no one has asked me about it.” M:

March: 16, 2026

Still in early 2024 168.am referred to closing a number of departments in Meghri to the alarm.

At that time, various Telegram channels wrote that: “A number of branches of departments were removed from the city of Meghri in Syunik Marz and moved to Goris or Kapa, ​​in particular, the SRC and Cadastre branches, and the cadastre branch was closed on August 16, 2023, the hospital is in a state of disrepair, there are no doctors there, and it is not heated at all.” On February 1, 2024 scheduled to close The Court of First Instance of Meghri, the mortuary has also been closed, along with the military laundry, even to get a driver’s license, people go to Kapan or Goris again.”

The residents of Meghri were also worried about the fact that the morgue was being taken out of Meghri and Kapa was being moved to the morgue. Armine Avagyan, assistant to Syunik governor, said that by the governor’s office The proposal made to the Ministry of Health was approved, according to which a new morgue will be built in Meghri with state funding.

Back then Cadastre Committee spokesperson Marine Sahakyan Regarding the closure of the Cadastre Committee in Meghri 168.am–had transferred to

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“A long time ago, when we started digitizing our electronic platform, the positions in the offices were reduced. In the offices, citizens can only enter an application, we have operators through which they can also do it, for example, there is “Haypost”, banks. Specifically, in the case of Meghri, the few positions I have are actually vacant for objective reasons. We have one employee there who has a serious health problem. I think there were three employees there, the office is there, and it was temporarily closed, at the moment, the positions are simply not filled.”

Bagrat Zakaryan, the former mayor of Meghri, had a negative assessment of the closure of the branches of the departments, saying.

“Meghri is not a less important city for Armenia, and the citizens cannot get to Kapan from Meghri to get any papers from the Cadastre. As for the Meghri hospital, the mayor said that the hospital has always had a serious personnel problem.

Recently, we received another alert from Meghri regarding the closure of a number of departments.

We tried From Khachatur Andreasyan, head of Meghri community to find out which department will be closed in Meghri, does the relocation of these departments not cause problems among the residents?

“To be honest, I don’t know what building they are moving to, I can’t say, I haven’t heard, no one has asked me about it, I can’t answer this question.

They say that they are closing the Prosecutor’s Office building, but we don’t have such a building, there was such a building a long time ago, but now it is not there, it is regional, it is not in Meghri.

As for the building of the morgue, we are opening a new one in Meghri, the new building of the morgue will be handed over in 2 months.” 168.amKhachatur Andreasyan briefly mentioned in a conversation with