Turkey, Armenia mull further steps for ‘full’ normalization: Çavuşoğlu

Turkey and Armenia will discuss what further steps can be taken after the resumption of charter flights as part of an ongoing process for the normalization of ties, the Turkish top diplomat has said.

"In the first meeting of the special envoys, the objectives of this process and expectations from this process were discussed. The special envoys, in their next meeting, will work on which steps could be taken following the resumption of flights," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters following the cabinet meeting late Jan. 18.

Special envoys from Turkey and Armenia, Serdar Kılıç and Ruben Rubinyan, respectively, held their first meeting in Moscow on Jan. 14 for the normalization of ties between the two countries through the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening the sealed borders. Both sides have described the first encounter as positive and productive and stated their agreement for the continuation of the dialogue.

In parallel to these talks, Turkey and Armenia have announced the resumption of charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan. The first flights will take place on Feb. 2.

"The objective [of the process] is full normalization. The Armenians are also very content with this," Çavuşoğlu said. The two special envoys will continue to discuss what other confidence-building measures can be taken to strengthen the existing political process.

Turkey and Armenia had failed to establish diplomatic ties because of the latter's occupation of Azerbaijani territories in Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s. They have also sealed the borders and have never opened them since then.

The two countries attempted to restore ties in 2009 by signing two documents, dubbed Zurich Protocols, for establishing diplomatic...