Pashinyan: Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, all need each other

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, all need each other, in response to Ankara’s recent statement that Armenia needs Turkey and Azerbaijan in order to position itself as part of the Western bloc.

“All the countries of the region—including Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan—need each other in terms of ensuring the security, sovereignty and independence of those very countries,” Pashinyan said on Monday.

Pashinyan said Armenia-Turkey and Armenia-Azerbaijan relations are very important, Yerevan-based NEWS.am reported.

Last week, Turkey’s presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said the normalization of ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey will contribute the most to the development of Armenia.

“The best solution for Armenia who wants to position itself as part of the Western bloc is normalizing its relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan,” Kalin said.

“Contrary to the opinion of the Armenian diaspora, Armenia needs Turkey and Azerbaijan more than the US and France,” he said.

The diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia have suspended in early 1990’s due to Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which the two countries embroiled in six weeks of clashes in 2020 autumn. Ankara sided with Baku since the beginning of the conflict and kept its land border with Armenia closed since 1993.

Following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war that ended with a Russia-brokered truce agreement signed by the warring sides in November 2020, Armenia handed back territories in the disputed region to Azerbaijan as part of the deal. Baku and Yerevan yet to tie the knot over a permanent peace agreement. Turkey and Armenia on the other hand are holding talks since the beginning of this year, aimed at normalising diplomatic relations frozen for almost three decades.