Çavuşoğlu: Turkey, Armenia to initiate new normalization process

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Turkey and Armenia will appoint special envoys soon to discuss steps to normalize relations, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said yesterday (December 13).

Speaking to lawmakers in parliament, Çavuşoğlu noted that Turkey would also move in coordination with Azerbaijan on the normalization steps with Armenia.

"In the Caucasus, we are making intense diplomatic efforts to build regional peace and prosperity with Azerbaijan," Çavuşoğlu said.

"In the coming period, we will start charter flights between Yerevan and Istanbul," he added.

NOTE • There has been no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia since they mutually closed borders in 1993. In 2008, the countries signed a normalization protocol but the process didn't continue.

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Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, especially because of Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

New clashes erupted on September 27, 2020, and during the six-week war, Azerbaijan retook several cities and 300 settlements and villages.

The conflict ended in November 2020 in a Russia-brokered deal that saw Armenia cede swathes of territory it had occupied for decades.

In January, the leaders of the three countries agreed to develop economic ties and infrastructure for the benefit of the entire Caucasus region. (PT/VK)