US praises Türkiye-Armenia border talks as key to South Caucasus peace

The United States Wednesday welcomed a meeting between Turkish and Armenian special representatives at their long-closed border, describing the normalization talks as a “positive step in bringing peace and stability to the South Caucasus.”

‘Committed to support peace’

“We welcome this meeting. The U.S. would consider Türkiye-Armenia normalization a positive step in bringing peace and stability to the South Caucasus,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to make significant progress toward finalizing a peace agreement, and we are committed to supporting that process. The time for peace is now,” the spokesperson added.

5th round of normalization talks

Special representatives from Türkiye and Armenia – Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Armenian Parliament Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan – met Tuesday at their shared border for the fifth round of talks aimed at normalizing their long-strained relations.

According to identical statements from the Armenian and Turkish foreign ministries, the two sides “reemphasized their agreement to continue the normalization process with no preconditions toward achieving the ultimate goal of full normalization between their respective countries.”

The statements added that they also agreed to “assess the technical requirements to enable the functioning of the Akhurik/Akyaka railroad border gate in line with regional developments as well as to simplify their mutual visa procedures for diplomatic/official passport holders.”

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Türkiye was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence on Sept. 21, 1991.

However, following the 1993 occupation by Armenian forces of the Karabakh region, which is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, Türkiye closed its border with Armenia and severed diplomatic and commercial relations.

Other contentious issues include the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire.

On October 10, 2009, the two countries signed a peace accord, known as the Zurich Protocols, to establish diplomatic relations and open the border, but the agreement was never ratified by their respective national parliaments.

The fall of 2020 and the end of the 44-day second Karabakh war, which helped Azerbaijan recapture its territory, marked a new phase in Turkish-Armenian relations.

Kilic and Rubinyan first met on Jan. 14 in Moscow, with a second meeting held in Vienna on Feb. 24.