MOSCOW —
Armenia and
Turkey's new special envoys will
meet for the first time in Moscow on January 14 in a bid to mend ties between
the arch foes, both countries said Wednesday.
اضافة اعلان
Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic relations, a closed
border and a long history of hostility rooted in mass killings of Armenians
under the Ottoman Turks during World War I.
The bitter relationship deteriorated more recently over
Turkey's support for Azerbaijan, which in 2020 fought a war with Armenia for
control of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
But the countries have recently made tentative moves to
improve relations and last month appointed special envoys.
"The first meeting of the special representatives of
Armenia and Turkey will be held on January 14 in Moscow," Armenian foreign
ministry spokesman
Vahan Hunanyan wrote on Facebook.
Turkey's foreign ministry confirmed the meeting in a
statement.
Turkey has nominated former Washington ambassador Serdar
Kilic as special envoy, while Armenia appointed Ruben Rubinyan, deputy speaker
of the National Assembly.
Turkish and Armenian companies have also applied for
permission for charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan.
Late last month the Armenian economy ministry said it was
lifting an embargo on Turkish goods originally imposed over
Ankara's backing of
Turkic-speaking Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict.
The six-week war claimed around 6,500 lives before Russia
brokered a ceasefire that saw Yerevan cede swathes of territory it had
controlled for decades.
In November, Russian President
Vladimir Putin brought
together Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev for negotiations on easing post-war tensions.
Armenia and Turkey in 2009 signed an agreement to normalize
relations, which would have led to the opening up of their shared border.
But Armenia never ratified the agreement and in 2018 ditched
the process.
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