Turkey, Armenia to appoint envoys in bid to normalize ties

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey and Armenia volition name peculiar representatives to sermon steps to normalize their ties, Turkey’s overseas curate said.

Speaking successful parliament during a statement implicit his ministry’s fund precocious Monday, Mevlut Cavusoglu besides said charter flights betwixt Istanbul and Yerevan would restart soon.

“We person consulted with Azerbaijan. Soon, we volition mutually name peculiar representatives with Armenia for the steps toward normalization and we volition enactment unneurotic with Azerbaijan astatine each step,” Cavusoglu told parliament.

Turkey and Armenia person nary diplomatic ties and Turkey unopen down their communal borderline successful 1993, successful a amusement of solidarity with Azerbaijan which was locked successful a struggle with Armenia implicit the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In 2009, Ankara and Yerevan reached an statement to found ceremonial relations and to unfastened their associated border, but Turkey aboriginal said it could not ratify the woody until Armenia withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh. The territory lies wrong Azerbaijan but was nether the power of taste Armenian forces backed by Armenia.

Last year, Turkey powerfully backed Azerbaijan successful the six-week struggle with Armenia implicit Nagorno-Karabakh which ended with a Russia-brokered bid woody that saw Azerbaijan summation power of a important portion of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Cavusolgu did not supply further details connected the steps to normalize ties but told parliament that Turkey and Azerbaijan were present engaged successful “intense diplomatic” efforts to bring bid and prosperity to the Caucasus region.

Turkey and Armenia person a much than a period aged hostility implicit the deaths of an estimated 1.5 cardinal Armenians successful massacres, deportations and forced marches that began successful 1915 successful Ottoman Turkey. Historians wide presumption the lawsuit arsenic genocide.

Turkey vehemently rejects the genocide label, conceding that galore died successful that era, but insisting that the decease toll is inflated and the deaths resulted from civilian unrest.