Yerevan hopes for progress in ties with Ankara after Washington meeting, says Armenian diplomat

Agreements mediated by the United States between Armenia and Azerbaijan open important opportunities for normalising relations between Yerevan and Ankara, Vahan Kostanyan, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, told Anadolu in an interview

He called the initialling of the “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia” a “historic” step, Caliber.Az reports.

The Armenian deputy foreign minister emphasised the importance of the declaration both for normalising relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and for Armenian-American ties.

“Both the bilateral negotiations with the US and the trilateral US-Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting were extremely important, one could say historic,” he noted.

According to the Armenian deputy foreign minister, statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan about normalising relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan positively influenced the negotiation process.

“We view the signed peace declaration as an important milestone and an opportunity to normalise relations with Türkiye. If communications between Turkey and Armenia are restored, this project will become more realistic and will also gain greater significance in the regional and global context,” Kostanyan added.

He hopes Ankara will respond to “Yerevan’s goodwill” by opening the Armenian-Turkish border and establishing diplomatic relations.

“We can lay an important foundation for stability and economic prosperity in our region,” the diplomat said.

By Khagan Isayev