Armenia acknowledges 'positive signals' from Turkey

YEREVAN, Armenia

Armenia is seeing “positive signals” from Turkey and will respond in kind, the country’s prime minister said on Friday.

At a Cabinet meeting in the capital Yerevan, Premier Nikol Pashinyan acknowledged that there were positive signals coming from Ankara in terms of regional peace.

“We will evaluate these gestures and respond to positive signals with positive signals,” he said.

Pashinyan’s remarks came days after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Armenia to acknowledge reality and take advantage of the new opportunities created by Azerbaijan’s liberation of Upper Karabakh.

“If Armenia moves in line with this, Turkey will also act accordingly,” Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Liberation of Karabakh

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade occupation.

* Written by Ahmet Gencturk