Turkey, Armenia speaks strongly of ties after years of hostility | Conflict Issues

Neighbors are at loggerheads over various issues, most notably the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 during the Ottoman Empire.

Delegates from Turkey and Armenia will hold the first phase of talks aimed at establishing good relations in Moscow on Friday, in a move that Armenia hopes will lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations and open borders after years of hostility.

Turkey and Armenia have not had diplomatic relations for 30 years and this is the first attempt to restore order since the 2009 peace agreement.

Neighbors are at odds over a number of issues, most notably the massacre of 1915 by 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Armenia says 1915 exchange genocide production. Turkey acknowledges that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed during a strike by Ottoman troops during World War I, but they deny the figures and deny that the killings took place in an orderly or genocide manner.

At the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh Conference, Ankara supported Azerbaijan and accused the Armenian army of invading Azel. Turkey began calling for unity after the war, because it wanted to attract the attention of the region.

The Russian news agency TASS announced in Armenia’s foreign ministry on Thursday that Yerevan hopes to hold a series of talks soon. establishing diplomatic relations and the opening of the border has been closed since 1993.

With borders closed, Turkey and Armenia have no direct trade routes. Indirect sales have risen slightly since 2013 but were only $ 3.8m in 2021, according to Turkish data.

Thomas de Waal, a close ally of Carnegie Europe, said in November opening the border and rebuilding the railway between Turkey and Armenia would benefit Yerevan’s economy, as it could be used by traders Turkey, Russia, Armenia, Iran and Azerbaijan.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last year the two countries had resumed flights between Istanbul and Yerevan in unison, but that Turkey would coordinate everything with Azerbaijan.

Flights are expected to start in early February.

There is no easy way out

Even strong support for the stability from the United States, which is home to the majority of Armenians and angered Turkey last year. citing the 1915 massacre as a catastrophe, experts say, the discussion can be complicated.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Armenia needed to forge closer ties with Azerbaijan to work for stability in order to achieve results.

Emre Peker, London-based director of the Eurasia Group, said a prudent approach to looking at potential donations was expected on both sides because of past crises, adding to Russia’s role, which was disruptive. Nagorno-Karabakh to end the war and is a major player in the area, it may be necessary.

“Negotiations are likely to open the way for further discussions in the coming months. But providing a comprehensive and long-term agreement will be difficult because of negotiations and global political tensions in both countries, “he said.

“The biggest problem will come from the question of historical reconciliation.”

The future of the talks will depend on “Ankara’s awareness that it must achieve its goals,” he said.