Physical Address
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, according to the Turkish Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
The meeting, the second in-person between the two leaders so far this year, addressed Türkiye-Armenia relations in light of steps toward permanent stability and peace in the South Caucasus, the directorate said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
Erdoğan expressed satisfaction with progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process and said Türkiye supports peace, stability and development in the region while continuing to contribute to the process.
He noted that Ankara evaluates steps to increase cooperation between Türkiye and Armenia.
Erdoğan arrived in China on Sunday and held bilateral meetings with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping and Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, that day.
The 25th summit of the SCO opened Monday with President Xi delivering the opening address.
Talks with Aliyev
Erdoğan separately met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the SCO and discussed bilateral relations, as well as regional and global issues.
Erdoğan expressed satisfaction with the progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process and said that Türkiye would continue to contribute to the process.
He emphasized the importance of Türkiye and Azerbaijan coordinating their regional development initiatives in the coming period.
He said that the two countries would continue to take steps to develop cooperation in various areas, particularly in energy and transportation.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov also participated in the meeting.
Turkish-Armenian ties
The talks come as the signing of a permanent peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan last month has set the stage for a potential historic breakthrough in Türkiye-Armenia relations, raising hopes for open borders, renewed diplomacy and deeper regional connectivity in the South Caucasus.
The two countries share a complex history. Armenia, for a long time, has accused Türkiye, or rather, the Ottoman Empire, of committing genocide against the Armenian population in the country during World War I. Türkiye has repeatedly denied the claims of genocide, although it has acknowledged a high number of deaths among Armenians due to isolated incidents and diseases.
Borders have remained closed since 1993 following Armenia’s occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh. Relations began to thaw after the 2020 Karabakh war, with both sides appointing special envoys to pursue normalization talks and negotiating the reopening of their land border. So far, limited agreements have allowed third-country citizens and diplomats to cross, but a full reopening remains elusive.
Despite the hurdles, there have been tentative gestures toward cooperation. The Margara border crossing has been used twice in recent years for humanitarian purposes: in February 2023 to deliver Armenian aid trucks following a devastating earthquake in southeastern Türkiye, and in March 2024 for humanitarian aid shipments to Syria via Türkiye. Armenia has also upgraded the crossing in anticipation of future use.
In June, Pashinyan visited Türkiye and met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a historic but somewhat muted visit. Two leaders expressed their readiness for peace in their region and a commitment to normalizing ties.
Türkiye has welcomed progress toward establishing lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia following a U.S.-brokered declaration recorded in Washington on Aug. 8.
One of the key components of the peace agreement at the moment is the development of what is being called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which will connect mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic exclave.
Experts have suggested that the transit project could integrate Armenia into regional trade, which could encourage Yerevan to enhance its relations with Ankara.
