Türkiye's closure of its airspace problem for Armenia, says Pashinyan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on May 3 that Türkiye's closure of its airspace for Armenian airlines that operate flights to third countries is a problem for Yerevan.

“Yes, there is a problem, sorry, whose problem is this? This is our problem. Those who close our communications have no problems at all,” he said, TASS reports.

On May 3, Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said Ankara had decided to close its airspace to aircraft of Armenian airlines that fly to third countries. He noted that the ban would be maintained until the provocations from Yerevan stopped, referring to the erection of a monument to the "Operation Nemesis" terror campaign.

On April 29, Flyone Armenia reported that the Turkish aviation authorities, without prior notice, canceled the issued permission to operate flights to Europe through Turkish airspace. This circumstance forced the Armenian air carrier to land the Paris-Yerevan flight at the Chisinau airport.

Armenia and Türkiye do not currently have diplomatic relations. In 2009, in Zurich, the foreign ministers of the two states signed protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations and on the principles of relations, but these documents were not ratified by the parties. On March 1, 2018, Armenia announced the annulment of the protocols. In 2021, Armenia and Türkiye appointed special representatives for the settlement of relations. They are currently working to normalise bilateral relations.