Türkiye-Armenia dialogue has never been so active: Pashinyan

WASHINGTON

Armenia’s engagement in dialogue with Türkiye has never been this active amid efforts to normalize relations, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said, expressing further hope for the ties between the two neighbors.

"I think that Armenia and Türkiye have never had such an active dialogue as they do now. In fact, there are no obstacles to communication with Türkiye and we are in constant contact. Our foreign ministers meet and communicate regularly and our representatives stay in constant touch,” Pashinyan said during a speech at an event in Washington.

“We are working very actively, and there is a shared understanding of what needs to be done. Of course, there are some nuances, and final steps are needed to achieve a real result. We hope that the outcome will be visible very soon,"

Touching upon the recent engagements with Ankara, Pashinyan recalled several phone calls, his participation in the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara in 2023 and their meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N General Assembly.

“We have a very specific agreement to open our border to third-country nationals and holders of diplomatic passports in the initial stage. We hope to implement this agreement as soon as possible. We are working in this direction," the premier stated.

Türkiye and Armenia appointed special envoys for the normalization of their relationship and instate diplomatic ties in 2021.

The move came after Azerbaijan’s liberation of its territories in Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia’s occupation in late 2020. Türkiye is expecting Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a permanent peace treaty.