Armenia’s foreign minister on landmark visit to Turkey to normalize ties

Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan made a rare visit to Turkey on Wednesday, underlining a desire to “make peace” with the estranged neighbor in the wake of a devastating quake. 

Mirzoyan arrived in Ankara on Wednesday morning, along with his deputy Vahan Kostanyan and Ruben Rubinyan, Armenia’s special envoy for the normalization of relations with Turkey.

“I would like to once again reaffirm the readiness and willingness of Armenia to build peace in the region, and especially to fully normalize relations with Turkey, to establish diplomatic relations and fully open the border between Armenia and Turkey,” Mirzoyan said at a joint press briefing with Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

“I consider it symbolic that on Saturday, the Armenian-Turkish border, which has been closed for thirty years, was opened for Armenian lorries loaded with humanitarian aid heading to Adiyaman,” Mirzoyan said.

On Saturday, a border crossing between Armenia and Turkey opened for the first time in 35 years to allow humanitarian aid.

Mirzoyan also announced that the two countries had agreed to jointly repair the Ani bridge and take care of the relevant infrastructure ahead of the full opening of the border.

For his part, Cavusoglu said Armenia had "extended a hand of friendship to our people," thanking Yerevan for its humanitarian aid.

Cavusoglu said the two sides had discussed the normalization of relations and believed humanitarian cooperation would support the process. The minister said they had also discussed normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

It was Mirzoyan's second visit to Turkey since March 2022, when he held talks with his Turkish counterpart on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Antalya.

Following the Wednesday meeting, Armenia’s foreign minister visited the city of Adiyaman, which was devastated by the February 6 earthquake, and met with a team of Armenian rescuers working in the area.

Armenia rejects Turkish proposal for Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan corridor

Armenia rejects any discussion of a Turkish proposed corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan.

The two governments previously held normalization negotiations in 2008. The talks broke down after Armenia refused to link the negotiations with the peace process with Azerbaijan or to allow Turkey a role in their discussions with Baku.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have long been hostile, as Turkey denies that a genocide of Armenians took place under the Ottoman Empire.

Relations were formally halted in 1993 during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, and have continued to be tense in recent years, particularly in light of Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan during the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2021.

Yerevan’s officially stated position is that normalization with Turkey should be unconditional, implying that issues relating to Nagorno-Karabakh or recognition of the Armenian genocide would not be a part of the discussion.

However, Turkey has suggested that the normalization of relations was contingent on the normalization of Yerevan’s relations with Baku, and has pushed for Armenia to sign a peace treaty offered by Azerbaijan.

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