Turkey and Armenia have made progress in the process of normalizing their relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly, assuring that the process is proceeding as planned.
"The process of normalizing relations between our country and Armenia is proceeding as planned," Erdogan said.
The Turkish president also touched upon Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, noting that Ankara has encouraged the parties to establish peace from the very beginning. He welcomed the agreements reached between Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 8, considering them steps that contribute to the establishment of lasting peace between the two countries.
Erdogan congratulated Nikol Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, and US President Donald Trump for their contributions to this process.
This statement comes from the UN rostrum, where every word is usually calculated in terms of diplomatic signals. By highlighting the August 8 agreements and congratulating Pashinyan, Aliyev, and Trump, Erdogan shows that Ankara is trying to maintain its place in the process as a stakeholder rather than an observer.
The question arises as to how much the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations depends on the Armenian-Azerbaijani process. Erdogan presented the two in one breath, which may mean that Ankara views them as interconnected.
It is worth watching in the coming weeks what concrete steps will follow this statement: whether negotiations will resume and how Yerevan will respond.
