Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Istanbul on Friday, June 20th, for a rare visit to arch-foe Turkey, in what Yerevan has described as a “historic” step toward regional peace.
Armenia and Turkey have never established formal diplomatic ties, and their shared border has been closed since the 1990s.
The visit follows an invitation from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Relations between the two nations have been historically strained over the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire—atrocities Yerevan says amount to genocide. Turkey rejects the label.
Ankara has also backed its close ally, Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan, in its long-running conflict with Armenia.
“This is a historic visit, as it will be the first time a head of the Republic of Armenia visits Turkey at this level. All regional issues will be discussed,” Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonyan told reporters.
An Armenian foreign ministry official told AFP the pair will discuss efforts to sign a comprehensive peace treaty as well as the regional fallout from the Iran-Israel conflict.
