Pashinian Encouraged By Erdogan’s Statements
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday described as encouraging Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent statements on normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations and said his government is ready for a dialogue with Ankara.

“I must note that the president of Turkey has publicly commented on relations with Armenia,” he said. “We see in those statements an opportunity to talk about normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations and reopening the Turkish-Armenian railway and roads, and we are prepared for such a conversation.”
“I am happy to point out that the Russian Federation has publicly expressed readiness to actively assist in that process. The European Union, France and the United States are also interested in that process,” Pashinian added during a weekly session of his cabinet.
Pashinian already spoke on August 27 of “some positive signals” sent by the Turkish government of late and said Yerevan is ready to reciprocate them. Erdogan responded by saying that regional states should establish “good-neighborly relations” by recognizing each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
“If Yerevan is ready to move in that direction Ankara could start working on a gradual normalization of relations with Armenia,” he said.
In that context, Erdogan pointed to Azerbaijan’s desire to negotiate a comprehensive “peace treaty” with Armenia after last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku is understood to seek Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh through such a treaty.