Armenia needs Turkey and Azerbaijan more than it needs the US and France, Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said.
“The normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey will contribute the most to the development of Armenia. Contrary to the opinion of the Armenian diaspora, Armenia needs Turkey and Azerbaijan more than the US and France,” Kalin said during an event held in Ankara.
“The best solution for Armenia who wants to position itself as part of the Western bloc is normalizing its relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan,” Kalin said, Yerevan-based NEWS.am reported on Wednesday.
The diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia have suspended in early 1990’s due to Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, which the two countries embroiled in six weeks of clashes in 2020 autumn. Ankara sided with Baku since the beginning of the conflict and kept its land border with Armenia closed since 1993.
Following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh war that ended with a Russia-brokered truce agreement signed by the warring sides in November 2020, Armenia handed back territories in the disputed region to Azerbaijan as part of the deal. Baku and Yerevan yet to tie the knot over a permanent peace agreement. Turkey and Armenia on the other hand are holding talks since the beginning of this year, aimed at normalising diplomatic relations frozen for almost three decades.
Once a peace treaty is signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, everyone will benefit from it, mostly Armenia, Ibrahim Kalin said.
“Because Armenia is a small landlocked country with a population of three million, the normalization of [its] relations with Azerbaijan and Turkey will contribute the most to the development of Armenia,” Kalin said.
“If we speak frankly, Armenia is today under the military auspices and economic control of Russia. Armenia is a country that works to exist, positioning itself as a part of the Western bloc. The best solution for Armenia is the normalization of [its] relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan”, he said.
Source: Gerçek News
