Amid expectations that long-time regional rivals Azerbaijan and Armenia will initiate peace talks, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Thursday evaluated future steps to protect Azerbaijan's interests and establish lasting peace in the region.
In a phone call, the leaders discussed the outcome of a recent meeting in Brussels between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and European Council President Charles Michel.
Erdoğan and Aliyev discussed the issues raised in the trilateral meeting in which an agreement was reached between the three officials.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Friday also stated that it was pleased with the meeting of Aliyev and Pashinian in Brussels.
In a written statement, the ministry said that Turkey welcomed the decision of instructing the foreign ministers of the two countries to start preparations for a peace agreement and establish a joint border commission between the two countries by the end of April.
"The Republic of Turkey supports the efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region and makes an active contribution to these efforts," it added.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are preparing to hold peace talks, officials in both countries confirmed Thursday, after the leaders of both countries ordered their top diplomats to start preparations following a meeting on Wednesday.
Pashinian and Aliyev met Wednesday in Brussels for rare talks mediated by Michel. The meeting came after a flare-up in Karabakh on March 25 that saw Azerbaijan capture a strategic village in the area under the Russian peacekeepers’ responsibility.
During the meeting, the two leaders "ordered foreign ministers to begin preparatory work for peace talks between the two countries," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"An agreement was reached during the meeting ... to set up a bilateral commission on the issues of delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border, which will be in charge of ensuring security and stability along the frontier," the ministry added.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry also said works are underway to begin peace talks, adding that future peace treaties would be based "on the basic principles proposed earlier by Azerbaijan."
Michel "noted President Aliyev’s and Prime Minister Pashinian’s stated desire to move rapidly toward a peace agreement between their countries," according to a European Council statement posted following the meeting.
"To this end, it was agreed to instruct Ministers of Foreign Affairs to work on the preparation of a future peace treaty, which would address all necessary issues," it added.
In mid-March, Baku tabled its framework proposals for the peace agreement that includes both sides’ mutual recognition of territorial integrity, meaning Yerevan must agree that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan.
In 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the Armenian-occupied region of Nagorno-Karabakh that claimed more than 6,500 lives. A cease-fire deal brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin saw Armenia cede swathes of territory to Azerbaijan, and Moscow deployed a peacekeeping contingent in the mountainous region.
However, losing control over the region was seen as a national humiliation for Armenia, sparking weeks of mass anti-government protests.
On Tuesday, several thousand opposition supporters rallied in Yerevan to warn the government against concessions on Karabakh.
Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The ensuing conflicts claimed around 30,000 lives.
While Turkey was Azerbaijan's main backer against Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a historic meeting took place between Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum last month. It was the first high-level visit from Armenia to Turkey in a decade. Çavuşoğlu described the meeting with Mirzoyan as "extremely fruitful and constructive." He also noted that Azerbaijan supports the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan.
Turkey is ready to further improve relations with Armenia and establish a regional cooperation platform in the Caucasus as long as Yerevan is determined to continue the normalization process that started with the appointment of special envoys, Erdoğan said last month.
Ankara has pushed for a six-nation platform comprising Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus. Turkey believes that permanent peace is possible through mutual security-based cooperation among the states and people of the South Caucasus region.