ARMENIAN PRESIDENT AND TURKISH PM HOLD LANDMARK MEETING
by Natalia Leshchenko

World Market Research Centre
Global Insight
February 2, 2009

On 29 January, the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met the Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the first official bilateral
meeting between an Armenian President and a Turkish Prime Minister
since 1993. The meeting was held on the fringes of the World Economic
Forum in Davos. The Armenian government described the meeting as
"positive", according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Erdogan and
Sargsyan have asked their foreign affairs ministers to improve
bilateral ties further.

Significance:Relations between the administrations of Armenia and
Turkey are rapidly improving. The current state is a far cry from
1993 when the Turkish government shut its borders with neighbouring
Armenia out of solidarity with Azerbaijan on the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. Armenia’s own axe to grind with Turkey is the mass killing of
Armenians between 1915 and 1917 which Armenia insists Turkey recognise
as genocide. Liberal Turks are making efforts to widen the scope for
discussions, and the Armenia is more prone to listen on the cue of
its ally Russia, which is hoping to stabilise the Caucasus through
alliance with Turkey. The Azeri government is wary of the recent
thaw in Turko-Armenian relations (seeTurkey – Armenia – Azerbaijan:
11 September 2008:). The current geo-political climate should further
enhance co-operation between Armenia and Turkey, yet one should not
bank on a swift official resolution of all outstanding issues any
time soon.