Turkey and Armenia take another step in normalizing relations

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in front of the National Assembly in Yerevan, November 16, 2020. AP - Tigran Mehrabyan

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1 min

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian spoke by telephone on Monday July 11, a rare exchange between these countries which have not had diplomatic relations for almost 30 years.

At the end of their exchange, the two leaders affirmed their " 

attachment

" to the ongoing normalization process.

A process launched at the end of last year, and which seems to be accelerating.

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With our correspondent in Istanbul, 

Anne Andlauer

One gesture, one step after another, the process initiated by Turkey and Armenia to try to "normalize" their relations is advancing.

The telephone conversation between Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Nikol Pashinian is important, if only on a symbolic level, because an exchange at such a level had not taken place for many years.

The two leaders said they expected rapid implementation of the decisions announced on July 1 by their special representatives meeting in Vienna.

Turkey and Armenia had notably agreed to reopen their common border to citizens of third countries.

This border has been closed since 1993, following an initial conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Since that time, the two neighbors officially no longer have diplomatic relations.

During a previous stage, in February, direct air links had resumed between Istanbul and Yerevan, arousing feverish hope on both sides of the border, the total reopening of which is the main objective of this normalization process.

Feverish hope, because in 2009, Turkey and Armenia had already signed protocols in this direction in Zurich.

They had finally remained a dead letter.

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To read also Turkey: Ankara appoints an envoy for Armenia

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  • Armenia

  • Nikol Pashinyan

  • Recep Tayyip Erdogan

  • Turkey