Armenian PM set for rare bilateral visit to Turkey to meet Erdogan
ISTANBUL/TBILISI, June 18 (Reuters) - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he will visit Turkey for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday, a rare bilateral visit that Armenia hopes will reset fraught ties and reopen their shared land border after decades of enmity.
The two neighbours have no formal diplomatic relations amid a legacy of deep historical hostility stemming from the World War One mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces, considered a genocide by Armenia and many other countries.
Turkey has also taken the side of close-ally Azerbaijan in its longstanding conflict with Armenia.
Armenpress state news agency cited Pashinyan on Wednesday as confirming the visit with Erdogan, Turkey's leader of 22 years.
Armenian parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan on Tuesday said the visit would be "historic", and partly aimed at eliminating the risk of fresh fighting with Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan, who has presided over several defeats to Azerbaijan, has pushed hard to normalise relations with Ankara and Baku.
He frames normalisation with Turkey as a way for Armenia, whose relations with traditional ally Russia have soured, to build closer ties with Western countries.
Earlier this year he said Armenia would no longer lobby for international recognition of the destruction of Anatolia's Armenian population as a genocide, a concession to Turkey that is deeply controversial among many Armenians.
A senior Armenian diplomat said the two sides would discuss the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process, and could also discuss the Israeli-Iranian conflict and evacuating foreign citizens from Iran, which neighbours both states.
Ankara closed its border with Armenia in 1993, in support of Azerbaijan in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region that at the time had a mostly Armenian population.
Turkey has said it wants to reopen the eastern frontier, but only if Armenia signs a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, with which Turkey has cultural and linguistic ties.
Armenia has repeatedly said it wants to reopen the Turkish border, and last year refurbished a crossing point. "We are ready for a new era in our region," the diplomat said.
A day before the visit, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev will also visit Erdogan in Turkey, Erdogan's office said.
Azerbaijan in 2023 restored full control over Karabakh, prompting the region's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan have backed a peace treaty, but progress has been slow, and ceasefire violations have risen along their heavily militarised border in recent months.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
Turkey to support Azerbaijan peace efforts, Erdogan tells Armenian PM
ISTANBUL, June 20 (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan met Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday and said Turkey will support Armenia's peace efforts with Azerbaijan, Erdogan's office said after the meeting in Istanbul. At the rare bilateral visit, the two leaders also discussed possible steps for Turkey-Armenia normalization, the office said. Pashinyan, writing on the X social media platform, said he had "an in depth exchange" with Erdogan. "Discussed the Armenia–Türkiye normalization process, regional developments, and the importance of sustained dialogue," Pashinyan wrote. "Armenia remains committed to building peace and stability in our region."
The Independent
14 hours ago
- The Independent
Azerbaijan sentences 7 journalists to prison in latest media crackdown
A court in Azerbaijan on Friday convicted a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist and six others on multiple charges, handing down prison sentences ranging from 7 1/2 to nine years in prison, RFE/RL and local media reported. The verdict against RFE/RL's Farid Mehralizada and six journalists from Abzas Media, an independent Azerbaijani investigative outlet, marks the latest escalation in the country's crackdown on media. All seven journalists have dismissed the charges as politically motivated, and international rights groups have called for their release. Mehralizada, a journalist with RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service and an economist, was sentenced to nine years in prison, RFE/RL reported. Nine-year sentences were also handed to Abzas Media's director Ulvi Hasanli, chief editor Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqizi) and investigative journalist Hafiz Babali. Reporters Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova were sentenced to eight years in prison, and deputy director Mahammad Kekelov — to 7 1/2 years, Abzas Media said. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in a statement Friday condemned the sentences as 'outrageous' and 'the outcome of a purely political trial based on fabricated charges, aimed at silencing voices that expose corruption and injustice.' 'The Azerbaijani authorities may imprison journalists, but they cannot imprison the truth," the group's editorial director Anne Bocandé said. 'RSF calls for the immediate release of all Abzas Media defendants and urges international actors to intensify pressure on Baku.' RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus in a statement Friday said Mehralizada was 'unjustifiably detained' and called for his release. 'Farid has already lost a great deal. Unjustifiably detained for more than a year, he missed the birth of his child, and now waits for elusive justice. Denying this man his fundamental rights is unnecessarily cruel. Instead of perpetuating this sham, it's time to reunite Farid with his family,' the statement read. Six Abzas Media journalists were arrested in November 2023. The authorities claimed that they had found 40,000 euros in cash in the outlet's office in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, and accused them of conspiring foreign currency into Azerbaijan. Mehralizada was arrested in May 2024 as part of the same case, even though both him and Abzas Media said that he never worked for the outlet. Later that year, authorities levied additional charges against Mehralizada and Azbas Media journalists, including illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, document forgery and others. In his closing statement to the court, which RFE/RL shared with The Associated Press, Mehralizada said that 'the truth is that I have not committed any media is one of the greatest means of service to the state, the nation, and humanity. Unfortunately, journalism in our country today is almost equated with terrorism.' Weeks before Mehralizada's arrest, in March 2024, Azerbaijani authorities targeted another news outlet, Toplum TV, with raids and arrests on similar charges. In December 2024, Azerbaijani authorities arrested six more journalists on smuggling charges, including five of those working for the independent Meydan TV news outlet. Earlier this year, authorities withdrew press credentials from Voice of America and Bloomberg and shut down the BBC's office in Azerbaijan. In a January 2025 report, Amnesty International said Azerbaijani authorities "have systematically silenced independent media through politically motivated arrests' and that those arrests, as well as shutting down independent news outlets, 'demonstrate Azerbaijan's continued crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media independence, with fabricated charges weaponized to stifle free media.'
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Erdogan vows to boost Turkey's missile production as Israel-Iran war escalates
As the war between Israel and Iran escalates, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he plans to strengthen the country's deterrence capabilities so that no country would dare attack it. Erdogan announced plans this week to step up Turkey's production of medium- and long-range missiles. Erdogan discussed the Iran-Israel war with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in a telephone call on Friday. He told Merz that the Iranian nuclear issue can only be resolved through negotiations, according to Erdogan's office. Despite Turkey's tense relations with Israel, analysts and officials don't see an immediate threat of the conflict spreading into NATO-member Turkey. Still, some see the move by Erdogan as a sign that the Israel-Iran war could trigger a new arms race in the region, with countries not directly involved in the fray ramping up their military efforts to preempt future conflicts. Ahmet Kasim Han, a professor of international relations at Istanbul's Beykoz University, said that Turkey was reacting to what he described as an unraveling world order. 'The Turkish government is drifting toward what is the name of the game in the Middle East right now: an escalation of an arms race,' he said. Israel and the U.S. have set a high standard in aerial warfare, creating a technological gap that Turkey and others are eager to close, Han said. Erdogan said following a Cabinet meeting on Monday that 'we are making production plans to bring our medium- and long-range missile stockpiles to a level that ensures deterrence, in light of recent developments." 'God willing, in the not-too-distant future, we will reach a defense capacity that is so strong that no one will even dare to act tough toward us," Erdogan said. In an separate address days later, the Turkish leader highlighted Turkey's progress in its domestically developed defense industry, that includes drones, fighter jets, armored vehicles and navy vessels, but stressed that continued effort was needed to ensure full deterrence. 'Although Turkey has a very large army — the second largest in NATO — its air power, its air defense is relatively weaker,' said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, a Turkey analyst at the German Marshall Fund think tank. The ongoing conflict has reinforced the importance of air superiority, including missiles and missile defense systems, prompting 'countries in the region, including Turkey to strengthen its air power,' he said. Since the start of the conflict, Erdogan has been scrambling to end the hostilities. He has held a flurry of phone calls with leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, offering to act as a 'facilitator' for the resumption of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. There are deep concerns in Turkey that a prolonged conflict will cause energy disruptions and lead to refugee movement from Iran, with which it shares a 560 kilometer-long (348 mile) border. Turkey relies heavily on energy imports, including from Iran, and rising oil prices due to the conflict could aggravate inflation and further strain its troubled economy. Turkey has strongly criticized Israel's actions, saying Iran has the legitimate right to defend itself against Israel's attacks, which came as nuclear negotiations were ongoing. Once close allies, Turkey and Israel have grown deeply estranged, especially after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, with Erdogan becoming one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fiercest critics. Relations further deteriorated following the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, as Israel grew increasingly wary of expanding Turkish influence in Syria. Earlier this year, Turkey and Israel however, established a 'de-escalation mechanism' aimed at preventing conflict between their troops in Syria. The move came after Syria's Foreign Ministry said that Israeli jets had struck a Syrian air base that Turkey reportedly hoped to use. Israel hasn't commented on Turkey's announcement that it plans to ramp up missile production, but Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded to Erdogan's criticisms of Israel over its attack on Iran in an X post on Wednesday. He accused Erdogan of having 'imperialist ambitions' and of having 'set a record in suppressing the freedoms and rights of his citizens, as well as his country's opposition.' Erdogan's nationalist ally, Devlet Bahceli, suggested that Turkey was a potential target for Israel, accusing the country of strategically 'encircling' Turkey with its military actions. He didn't elaborate. Analysts say, however, that such statements were for 'domestic consumption' to garner support amid growing anti-Israel sentiment in Turkey. 'I don't think that Israel has any interest in attacking Turkey, or Turkey has any interest in a conflict with Israel,' Han said.
