“Armenia and Turkey have not yet established diplomatic relations, but I am convinced that such relations will be established soon, based on the recognition of each other’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and borders,” he said during a conference in Yerevan. “And I believe this is a fact that we must acknowledge.”
Pashinian did not specify possible dates for such a development which Ankara has for decades made conditional on a resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Successive Turkish governments have set the same precondition for opening Turkey’s border with Armenia.
Turkey’s Agriculture Minister Ibrahim Yumakli signaled no change in this policy when he visited Yerevan last month to participate in the COP17 Biodiversity Conference held there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likewise gave no such indications after meeting with Pashinian in New York in September. Erdogan reportedly only expressed readiness to “advance” Turkish-Armenian commercial ties.
The head of Turkey’s national electricity transmission network afterwards visited Armenia to discuss power supplies between the two neighboring countries. Ankara has so far been reluctant to even implement a 2022 agreement to open the border to holders of Armenian and Turkish diplomatic passports and citizens of third countries.
Pashinian told reporters on Thursday that he is planning to visit the Turkish city of Antalya next week to attend the COP31 Climate Change Conference. He did not say whether he could meet with Erdogan on the sidelines of the United Nations forum.
