“Azerbaijan has been our red line right from the beginning,” Erdogan told Turkish media on Monday. “We have said that we will open our doors [to Armenia] after problems with Azerbaijan are solved.”
“I am glad that [Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinian shares our view on regional peace and partnership,” he said. “We now expect that apart from making statements Yerevan will take concrete steps in the settlement process.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu likewise demanded such steps last week when he commented on prospects for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations. He said Yerevan should specifically negotiate a peace accord sought by Baku and open a land corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave.
Pashinian, his political allies and members of his government say they want an unconditional opening of the Turkish-Armenian border and establishment of diplomatic relations between the two neighboring states. Their political opponents claim that Pashinian is ready to make sweeping concessions to both Ankara and Baku.
Erdogan and Cavusoglu reaffirmed the Turkish preconditions for normalizing ties with Armenia after four rounds of negotiations held by Turkish and Armenian envoys this year.
During their last meeting held in Vienna on July 1, the two sides agreed to open the Turkish-Armenian border to citizens of third countries and to allow mutual cargo shipments by air. The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries said this will be done “at the earliest date possible.” But they set no concrete time frames.
The Turkish envoy, Serdar Kilic, reportedly, visited and inspected over the weekend a Turkish checkpoint on the Armenian border.
Eduard Aghajanian, a senior Armenian lawmaker from Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, on Tuesday described Kilic’s trip as “good news.” “This is welcome and shows that [Turkish-Armenian] arrangements are already entering a practical stage,” he said.
Aghajanian said late last week that Cavusoglu’s latest statement on Turkish-Armenian relations should not be seen as preconditions.