Erdoğan urges Armenia to mend ties with Azerbaijan
BAKU
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 26 said Armenia should mend ties with arch foe Azerbaijan if it wants better relations with Ankara.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations, a closed frontier and a long history of hostility rooted in killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Turks during World War I.
The bitter relationship has deteriorated more recently over Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan, which last year fought a war with Armenia for control of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region.
On a visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Erdoğan set out conditions if Yerevan wanted better ties with Ankara.
"If Armenia shows sincere goodwill towards Azerbaijan, then there will be no obstacles for the normalisation of ties between Turkey and Armenia," Erdoğan said.
"Turkey will reciprocate to Armenia’s steps aimed at building lasting peace in the region," he told a news conference after attending the opening of a newly-built airport in Azerbaijan’s Fizuli district recaptured during the six-week war last year.
In September, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Yerevan was prepared to hold discussions to repair relations with Turkey.
