Armenia’s Pashinyan makes history with first official visit to Turkey
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made history on Friday by becoming the country’s first leader since the Cold War to pay an official visit to Turkey.
Pashinyan is meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, raising hopes that the two countries may soon normalise relations.
Turkey broke off diplomatic normalisation talks with Armenia in 1993 and closed its borders, following Armenian forces’ occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh.
While Pashinyan attended Erdogan’s presidential inauguration in June 2023 and the two leaders have met at several international summits since then, this marks his first official visit to Turkey.
According to a statement from the Turkish presidency, the trip is considered a “working visit”. Both foreign ministers and special envoys for normalisation are also attending, allowing the delegations to discuss every aspect of the bilateral relationship.
A senior Armenian diplomat told Middle East Eye that Erdogan extended the invitation to Pashinyan after a phone call earlier this month in which the Armenian prime minister congratulated the Turkish president on the occasion of Eid al-Adha.
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“They had a good conversation,” the diplomat said. “The invitation was later formalised through diplomatic channels.”
The diplomat described the visit as historic, crediting the positive momentum to the two leaders’ commitment to keeping communication channels open and “patiently demonstrating leadership”.
To prepare for the visit, Deputy Armenian Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan travelled to Ankara on Monday to review key issues.
Speaking in Prague earlier this week, Pashinyan mentioned the improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations, noting that, unlike three years ago, the two countries can now communicate directly rather than relying on third-party intermediaries.
Overcoming historic and regional tensions
Tensions between Turkey and Armenia extend beyond the issue of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally and arch-rival of Yerevan.
After a bloody six-week war in late 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military operation in September 2023 to take back the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, resulting in a ceasefire agreement. Most ethnic Armenians fled, and Artsakh, the breakaway region, was officially dissolved on 1 January 2024.
The tensions are also rooted in the events of 1915, when hundreds of thousands of Armenians died after the Ottoman Empire ordered their deportation from Anatolia.
Armenian leaders and much of the international community regard this as genocide and say 1.5 million were killed, while Ankara maintains the deaths occurred amid the chaos of World War I, with losses on both sides.
Nonetheless, Pashinyan has recently downplayed this issue, expressing his desire to establish good neighbourly relations with Turkey, end Armenia’s isolation and restore commercial and full diplomatic ties.
The timing of Pashinyan’s visit is also significant, coming amid heightened tensions between Israel and Iran - neighbours to both Turkey and Armenia. “But this conflict makes dialogue even more pertinent,” the Armenian official said.
In March, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a draft peace treaty, but Baku has continued to make additional demands and has pressured Ankara not to implement some of the confidence-building measures agreed with Yerevan in 2023.
One such measure was the agreement to open the Alican-Margara border crossing to third-country nationals and diplomatic passport holders. Armenia has completed its side of the renovations, but Turkey has yet to take concrete steps to implement the agreement.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is insisting that Armenia amend its constitution - which currently references Nagorno-Karabakh - before signing a peace agreement.
Pashinyan has signalled a willingness to consider constitutional changes, but insists this should not delay the peace process. He has also stated his intention to sign a peace deal with Azerbaijan by the end of the year.
Turkish officials told MEE they see Pashinyan as a “visionary” leader seeking long-term stability for Armenia by resolving longstanding disputes with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Some in Ankara even suggest that Baku should be more receptive to Pashinyan’s overtures and avoid maximalist positions, especially given the uncertainty of his political future with general elections looming next year.
Pashinyan’s visit comes immediately after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s trip to Turkey - a timing that has not gone unnoticed.
On Thursday, Erdogan and Aliyev inaugurated a permanent housing development called “Azerbaijan Neighbourhood” in the southern city of Kahramanmaras, built for the victims of the 2023 earthquakes.
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