by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
ANKARA/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Envoys from Turkey and Armenia took part in a first round of talks in Moscow on Friday aimed at normalizing their ties, a move that could lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations and the reopening borders between the two countries.
Ankara and Yerevan have had no diplomatic or commercial relations for decades, despite a peace agreement reached in 2009 which has never been ratified. The talks are the first attempt since then to restore tense ties.
The foreign ministers of the two countries said the talks in Moscow had taken place in a “positive and constructive” atmosphere and said they were ready to normalize their relations without preconditions. The envoys dispatched to the Russian capital “shared their preliminary approach to the normalization process”, they said.
The gap to be filled is however very deep, with the main point of contention being the massacre of around 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, considered by Yerevan as a genocide, which Ankara refutes.
Turkey admits that many Armenians who lived under the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes during the First World War, but disputes the toll and denies any systematic execution.
During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the end of 2020, Ankara provided decisive military support to Azerbaijan and accused Armenia of occupying its territory. Turkey has subsequently advocated a rapprochement with Yerevan as it seeks to expand its influence in the region.
SMALL GESTURES AND BIG OBSTACLES
In separate but similarly worded statements issued after the Moscow meeting, the two capitals indicated that their discussions would continue at a date and at a place to be determined later.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Armenia hoped to see the talks lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders closed since 1993.
Last year, the head of Turkish diplomacy, Mevlüt Cavusoglu, said that, as part of this rapprochement, the two countries would also open air links – these should start next month.
Despite the desire shared by Washington to see a normalization of relations between the two countries take place, while a large Armenian diaspora is present in the United States, the experts expect that the discussions will come up against difficult obstacles to overcome.
This is the case of the debate around the question of the “genocide” of 1915, which arouses epidermal reactions in Turkey, but also of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan estimated on Thursday that ‘they were essential for normalization with Turkey as the military defeat in 2020 caused deep trauma in Yerevan.
(Report by Tuvan Gumrukcu in Ankara and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber in Moscow; French version Jean Terzian and Tangi Salaün, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)