Category: 2022

The ongoing steps toward normalization in ties between Ankara and Yerevan will lead to an improvement of the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday.

He also expressed certainty that Armenia will finally settle relations with its another neighbor, Azerbaijan.

“We have a common understanding that the process is moving forward. Maybe a faster pace would be preferred, but nevertheless, the process is underway, and significant positive results are being achieved, so far it is an interim (result). But there is no doubt that there will be final agreements. We are doing our best to contribute to this,” he said at a news conference in Yerevan, following a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.

Baku and Yerevan have their own “specific vision” regarding how to interact at the current stage, but both sides have “the same understanding” that the latest peace agreements remain a “very clear road map” to follow, he said.

Relations between the two former Soviet countries of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military illegally occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, and the 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost three decades.

Lavrov noted that the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani commissions on the delimitation of the border was already held and the next meeting will be in Moscow in the near future.

Also, the trilateral working group under the leadership of the deputy prime ministers on unblocking transport and economic ties has made significant progress, he said.

“The (opening of a) railway route (connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan) has been agreed, now the coordination of an automobile route is close to an end,” he said

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said in April that Armenia accepted the five-point proposal and that the two countries’ leaders agreed on a working group to prepare a peace agreement, the establishment of a commission on the delimitation of borders and the activities of a working group on transport issues with the involvement of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia following a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel.

Aliyev then on May 23 announced that Baku and Yerevan had agreed on the opening of the Zangezur corridor, including the construction of both railways and highways.

Russia is ready to help conclude a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan and, in general, solve the humanitarian problems that persist in this region, said Lavrov. Mirzoyan also praised Turkey’s readiness to normalization.

“We are glad to hear the statements of the Turkish top leadership that they are ready to normalize relations and establish diplomatic relations with Armenia, as well as open borders,” he said.

Asked about protests against the course of the Armenian authorities, Mirzoyan said people express their right for public gatherings and there is no political crisis in Armenia.

The first meeting of special representatives from Turkey and Armenia toward normalization was held in January. The countries attended what both hailed as “positive and constructive” talks in Moscow, the first in more than a decade, raising hopes that diplomatic relations can be established and their land border – shut since 1993 – reopened.

Turkey and Armenia have also restarted commercial charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan after two years as part of the normalization process.

Despite being neighbors, Turkey and Armenia have seen many difficulties in their diplomatic relations since the latter’s declaration of independence in 1991. The two countries have long been divided by a range of issues – from Armenia’s refusal to recognize their shared border to its occupation of Karabakh and the 1915 events between the Ottoman Empire and Armenians.

The two countries have had no diplomatic or commercial ties since the 1990s. The talks last month were the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord that was never ratified.

Bilateral relations, however, have taken a new shape and appear to be heading toward normalization recently. Following the war over Karabakh in which Turkey backed Azerbaijan against Armenia, Turkish-Armenian relations have entered a new phase.