The 2 leaders maintain their first face-to-face assembly after agreeing to work on relations final yr.
The leaders of historic foes Turkey and Armenia have held their first face-to-face assembly because the two international locations agreed to enhance relations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday met in Prague on the sidelines of a summit by the leaders of 44 international locations to launch a “European Political Neighborhood” geared toward boosting safety and financial prosperity throughout Europe.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was additionally current at what seemed to be an off-the-cuff gathering of the three leaders. No particulars of what they mentioned instantly emerged.
Turkey and Armenia, which don’t have any diplomatic relations, agreed final yr to begin talks to place many years of bitterness behind them and reopen their joint border.
Particular envoys appointed by the 2 international locations have held 4 rounds of talks since then.
Their discussions have resulted in an settlement to renew constitution flights between Turkey’s largest metropolis, Istanbul, and the Armenian capital of Yerevan.
Azerbaijan
Turkey, a detailed ally of Azerbaijan, shut down its border with Armenia in 1993 in a present of solidarity with Baku, which was locked in a battle with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh area.
In 2020, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan within the six-week battle with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that noticed Azerbaijan achieve management of a major a part of the area.
Turkey and Armenia even have a greater than century-old hostility over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and compelled marches that started in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey.
It’s Ankara and Yerevan’s second try at reconciliation. Turkey and Armenia reached an settlement in 2009 to determine formal relations and to open their border, however the settlement was by no means ratified due to sturdy opposition from Azerbaijan.
Final month, Armenia and Azerbaijan negotiated a ceasefire to finish a flare-up of combating that killed 155 troopers from each side.