Jan 15, 2022, 10:40 AM

Turkey, Armenia hold first talks on normalizing ties

Turkey, Armenia hold first talks on normalizing ties

TEHRAN, Jan. 15 (MNA) – Envoys from Turkey and Armenia held the first round of talks aimed at normalizing ties in Moscow on Friday.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or commercial ties for 30 years and the talks are the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord. That deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.

Armenian envoy Ruben Rubinyan and his Turkish counterpart, Serdar Kilic, met "in a positive and constructive atmosphere" on Friday, their foreign ministries said in identical statements, France 24 reported.

No concrete measures were announced after the 90-minute talks in the Russian capital.

However, the "parties agreed to continue negotiations without preconditions aiming at full normalization (of relations)", the ministries added.

The statements said the date and location of the next meeting would be decided in "due time through diplomatic channels".

Historically tense ties between the two countries deteriorated further in 2020 when Turkey backed Azerbaijan in the latter's war with Armenia for control of the disputed Karabakh region.

The 2020 conflict in Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, claimed more than 6,500 lives. It ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire under which Armenia ceded to Azerbaijan territories it had controlled for decades.

Armenia and Turkey have since stepped up efforts to improve relations, including the reciprocal appointment of special envoys.

ZZ/PR

News ID 182897

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