ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish, Armenian and Azeri leaders met informally at a European summit on Thursday, Turkish media reported, marking the first top level talks between Turkey and Armenia since they launched a bid to mend ties late last year after decades of animosity.
State-owned Anadolu news agency said President Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev ahead of the Prague summit, publishing a photo of them sitting with others at a small table.
In January, Turkey and Armenia held a first round of talks in more than ten years, describing them as “positive and constructive” and raising the prospect of restoring ties and reopening borders.
Ankara has not had diplomatic or commercial ties with Armenia since the 1990s. The latest initiative is the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord that was never ratified.
Tensions flared during a 2020 war over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Turkey accused ethnic Armenian forces of occupying land belonging to Azerbaijan, but it subsequently called for a rapprochement as it seeks to broaden its regional influence.
(Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
