The speakers of the parliaments of Armenia and Turkey held a significant meeting during an international assembly, discussing bilateral relations and prospects for peace in the South Caucasus.
On October 14, a meeting took place between the Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, and the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, Numan Kurtulmuş, on the sidelines of the 149th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
According to Alen Simonyan, the meeting was "substantive" and covered a wide range of topics. Key issues on the agenda were the bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey, as well as the prospects for the peace process in the South Caucasus.
Particular attention was given to the Armenian government's initiative titled "Crossroads of Peace." Simonyan presented this project to his Turkish counterpart, emphasizing its importance for stabilizing the situation in the region.
A crucial aspect of the meeting was the discussion of the current state of peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Simonyan informed the Turkish side about the latest developments in this process and reaffirmed Armenia's readiness for constructive dialogue to achieve long-term peace.
Both speakers expressed their intention to maintain ongoing contacts in the future.
The process of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations began at the start of 2022. The first meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey took place on January 14 in Moscow. Subsequently, the envoys held three more meetings in Vienna.
On July 1, 2022, in Vienna, Rubinyan and Kılıç agreed to facilitate the crossing of the Armenian-Turkish land border as soon as possible for third-country nationals and holders of diplomatic passports. However, these agreements have not yet been implemented.
Despite the closed border and the absence of diplomatic relations, trade between the two countries has almost never ceased in the post-Soviet period. According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, in January-May of this year, the trade turnover between Armenia and Turkey amounted to over $131 million. Of this amount, only $225,000 accounted for Armenian exports to Turkey, while the rest represented imports of Turkish goods to Armenia.
The trade figures for the five months are only $2 million higher than the same period in 2023.
