Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may use his upcoming meeting with Pope Francis as an opportunity to normalize his country’s relations with Armenia, according to an analyst of the regional news agency REGNUM.
“Erdogan is likely to ask the Pope for assistance in his the efforts towards seeking reconciliation with Armenia. That may help improve his image on the international arena, smoothing out certain problems in the Armenia-Turkey relations,” Stanislav Stramedlovsky says in a recent editorial.
He describes the Pope as “the suitable candidate” to act as a mediator in resolving the Turkish-Armenian conflict, citing the Armenian authorities’ high degree of trust in the Holy See and the Vatican authorities’ neutral stance on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).
Erdogan’s trip, scheduled on February 5, will be the first visit to the Vatican City by a Turkish leader in the past 59 years.