Istanbul Patriarch Meets with Turkish Envoy on Normalization
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said his country will take “further steps” to improve relations with Armenia, while Turkey’s special envoy on the normalization process met with the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul.
Erdogan told reporters that Ankara will take more steps to improve ties with Armenia and establish what he called a “regional cooperation platform in the Caucasus,” as long as Yerevan shows determination to continue the normalization process that started with the appointment of special envoys.
The Turkish and Armenian special envoys, Serdar Kilic and Ruben Rubenyan, are scheduled to hold their second round of talks in Vienna on Thursday.
“As you know, I already said that we will respond in the same way to positive steps taken by Armenia. This region needs peace, stability and prosperity. With this understanding, we made a sincere effort to start a normalization process between our country and Armenia. We are pleased with the will of Armenia to normalize [relations] with us,” Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, according to the Daily Sabah.
“We also know that Armenia has some concrete expectations such as opening the borders and establishing diplomatic relations. If Armenia is determined to continue the process that has started with the special representatives, there will be no question of keeping the doors closed for us,” he added.
Official Yerevan, from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on down has voiced readiness to open the border with Turkey and establish diplomatic relations.
During their first round of talks in Moscow last month, Kilic and Rubinyan pledged to move forward with discussions “without preconditions.”
“The Azerbaijan-Armenia relations and Turkey-Armenia normalization process can progress by supporting each other,” Erdogan said. “Likewise, our idea of regional cooperation will support and feed off these bilateral processes.”
Calling the normalization process a “historic opportunity,” Erdogan reiterated Ankara’s position that all steps in the process will be closely coordinated with Azerbaijan.
Erdogan reportedly discussed issues relation to relations with Armenia with Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, the Turkish Millet newspaper reported.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, ARMENPRESS reports the Turkish “Milliet” informs.
“Issues related to the development of cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as regional issues, in particular, relations with Armenia and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis were discussed during the telephone conversation,” a statement from the Turkish president’s office said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kilic paid a courtesy visit to the Armenian Patriarchate on Tuesday and met Patriarch Sahak II.
During the meeting, Kilic expressed his satisfaction with his first meeting with Rubinyan voiced hope that “the solid steps to be taken in the normalization process will pave the way for positive developments between the two countries,” the Patriarchate said in a statement.
Sahak II expressed his support for the normalization process and said that “the good neighborly relations that will be reached in the end will provide an environment of peace not only for the people of the two countries, but also for the countries in the region, and will lead to regional economic, social and cultural developments.”
