Turkish president, Armenian premier discuss normalization

ArmInfo.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation on June 2, focusing on the ongoing normalization process between Armenia and Turkey, including steps aimed at launching direct trade between the two countries.

According to the Turkish presidency, Erdogan told Pashinyan that  efforts to normalize relations are continuing through practical  measures aimed at establishing direct commercial links between Ankara  and Yerevan. The call comes amid growing signs that both governments  are accelerating the process, with Turkish officials recently stating  that technical preparations for direct trade have been completed and  that work related to reopening the long-closed land border is  continuing.

The conversation followed Pashinyan's defeatist remarks on the  campaign trail one day earlier, in which he presented normalization  with both Turkey and Azerbaijan as a strategic necessity rather than  a political choice. Arguing that Armenia cannot afford to remain  isolated from its neighbours, Pashinyan said that the absence of  relations with Ankara exacts a cost to the country's security and  international standing.

The Armenian government has also announced plans to rehabilitate the  Gyumri-Akhurik- Akyaka railway connection with Turkey, while  construction work is reportedly already underway on the Turkish side  of the border.

The renewed momentum comes despite the fact that the Armenia-Turkey  normalization process remains largely disconnected from longstanding  Armenian concerns, including the absence of diplomatic recognition of  the Armenian Genocide by Ankara, continued Turkish support for  Azerbaijan's maximalist positions, and the unresolved consequences of  the Artsakh conflict. Many within Armenian society question the  asymmetrical nature of the process, arguing that Yerevan has  repeatedly made concessions and confidence- building gestures while  receiving few concrete political guarantees in return.

The timing of the latest high-level contact is also likely to attract  attention as Armenia enters the final days of its parliamentary  election campaign. With Pashinyan increasingly portraying  normalization with Turkey and Azerbaijan as central pillars of his  government's regional strategy, many contend that the initiative is  being presented to voters as an unavoidable geopolitical reality  rather than as a policy choice open to democratic debate.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 during the First  Artsakh War in support of Azerbaijan. While several previous attempts  at normalization, including the 2009 Zurich Protocols, failed to  produce lasting results, the current process has advanced further  than any previous effort, raising questions about its long-term  political, economic and security implications for Armenia.