Armenia, Turkey to Name Special Envoys for Dialogue

Ankara has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and kept the Turkish-Armenian border closed out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It provided decisive military support to Baku during last year Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In August this year, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke of “positive signals” sent by Turkey, saying that his government is ready to reciprocate them. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said afterwards that Pashinyan had offered to meet with him.

Erdogan appeared to make such a meeting conditional on Armenia agreeing to open a transport corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. He also cited Azerbaijan’s demands for a formal Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

Çavusoglu made clear later in September that Turkey will continue to coordinate its policy on Armenia with Azerbaijan. “We decide together, we take steps together,” he said.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained last month about “new preconditions” set by Ankara. “Among them is a ‘corridor’ connecting Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan,” he told the French daily Le Figaro.

Eduard Aghajanyan, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on foreign relations, said on December 14 that the two sides announced plans for normalization talks as a result of a “process that started at some point.” He shed no light on that process.