President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized the significance of the recent understanding reached in peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, stressing Türkiye’s continued support for efforts aimed at fostering development and stability across the South Caucasus through a “win-win” approach as he held a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Istanbul on Friday.
During high-level talks in Istanbul, the sides discussed key regional developments, including the normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia, broader peace and dialogue efforts in the South Caucasus, and current issues affecting the region.
President Erdoğan reiterated Türkiye’s readiness to support any constructive initiatives to advance peace and cooperation. He also said Türkiye is committed to using every diplomatic tool to help establish lasting stability not only in the Caucasus, but across the wider region.
The meeting also addressed possible next steps in the normalization process between Türkiye and Armenia.
Referring to the escalating tensions in the Middle East, Erdoğan noted that Türkiye remains in close contact with regional leaders to reduce the risks created by Israel’s attacks on Iran and prevent further escalation.
Pashinyan said he held "in-depth" talks with Erdoğan in Istanbul.
A statement from the Armenian government said: "The two leaders discussed the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, underlining the importance of continuing constructive dialogue and achieving concrete results."
In a post on X, Pashinyan said he had an "in-depth exchange" with Erdoğan at which they "discussed the Armenia-Türkiye normalization process, regional developments, and the importance of sustained dialogue."
He reassured the Turkish leader that Armenia was "committed to building peace and stability in our region."
The discussions began shortly before 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT) at Istanbul's Dolmabahçe Palace, the Presidency said.
Armenia and Türkiye have never established formal diplomatic ties and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s.
Analysts said Pashinyan would make the case for speeding up steps toward normalization with Türkiye in a bid to ease Armenia's isolation.
Ahead of the talks, Pashinyan visited the Armenian Patriarchal Church and the Blue Mosque and met members of the Turkish Armenian community, he said on his official Facebook page.
"This is a historic visit, as it will be the first time a head of the Republic of Armenia visits Türkiye at this level. All regional issues will be discussed," Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters on Thursday.
"The risks of war (with Azerbaijan) are currently minimal, and we must work to neutralize them. Pashinyan's visit to Türkiye is a step in that direction."
An Armenian foreign ministry official told AFP Pashinyan and Erdoğan would discuss efforts to sign a comprehensive peace treaty as well as the fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict.
A day ahead of his visit, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was in Türkiye to meet Erdoğan, hailing the two nations' alliance as "a significant factor, not only regionally but also globally."
Erdoğan repeated his backing for "the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia."
The two nations had agreed on the text of a peace deal in March, but Azerbaijan has since outlined a host of demands, including changes to Armenia's constitution, before it will sign the document.
Pashinyan has actively sought to normalize relations with both Baku and Ankara.
"Pashinyan is very keen to break Armenia out of its isolation and the best way to do that is a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and a normalization agreement with Turkey," Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe told AFP.
The main thing blocking normalization with Türkiye was Azerbaijan, a close ally of Ankara, he said.
"Turkey has a strategic dilemma here: on the one hand it wants to stay loyal to Azerbaijan; on the other, opening the Armenian border makes it a bigger player in the South Caucasus," he said.
Earlier this year, Pashinyan said Armenia would halt its campaign for international recognition of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians as genocide.
He has visited Türkiye only once before, for Erdoğan's 2023 inauguration. At the time, he was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate him on his re-election.
Ankara and Yerevan appointed special envoys in late 2021 to lead a normalization process, a year after Armenia's defeat in a war with Azerbaijan over the then-disputed Karabakh region.
In 2022, Türkiye and Armenia resumed commercial flights after a two-year pause.
A previous attempt to normalize relations, a 2009 accord to open the border, was never ratified by Armenia and abandoned in 2018.
