Armenia’s assistance to victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey could facilitate the normalization of relations between the two neighboring states, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after holding talks with his visiting Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Wednesday.
Mirzoyan flew to Ankara hours after Turkey again opened a border crossing with Armenia to receive a second batch of humanitarian aid sent by Yerevan.
A convoy of Armenian trucks loaded with food, medicine and other relief supplies headed to the southeastern Turkish city of Adiyaman where a 27-strong Armenian rescue team has been searching for possible survivors of the quake that killed at least 35,000 people.
Mirzoyan visited Adiyaman and spoke with the Armenian rescuers later on Wednesday.
“Armenia has extended its hand of friendship, showed solidarity and cooperation with us in this difficult time … We need to continue this solidarity,” Cavusoglu told a joint news conference in Ankara with Mirzoyan.
“The normalization process in the South Caucasus region is going on. We believe that our cooperation in the humanitarian field will support this process,” he added, according to Reuters.
In that regard, Cavusoglu pointed not only to ongoing efforts to improve Turkish-Armenian relations but also Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks.
The two ministers said they discussed their governments’ efforts to normalize bilateral relations. In Mirzoyan’s words, they reached understandings on rebuilding a medieval bridge on the Turkish-Armenian border and transport infrastructure “in advance of a full opening of the border.” He gave no details.
Turkey has for decades made the opening of the border and the establishment of diplomatic relations with Armenia conditional on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal acceptable to Azerbaijan. Turkish leaders have repeatedly reaffirmed this precondition since the start of the normalization talks with Yerevan in January 2022.
Turkish and Armenian officials held four rounds of negotiations before announcing in July that the border will be opened for citizens of third countries. Mirzoyan reiterated Yerevan’s hopes for the “full normalization of relations” and “complete opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey.”
Source: Azatutyun.am
