Yesterday, the head of the UN, within the framework of the 79th session of the Assembly, the meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took place. According to official information, the parties referred to the steps already taken and existing agreements within the framework of the Armenian-Turkey relations normalization process, regional issues, and the willingness to continue the normalization process without preconditions and to give a new impetus to the relations was emphasized.

Turkologist Nelly Minasyan told Radar Armenia that she considers the Pashinyan-Erdogan meeting a critical step. According to him, although the information is limited, it is evident that there were many meaningful discussions related to Armenian-Turkish relations.

The Turk expert found it difficult to say whether that meeting would lead to the normalization of relations. He is inclined to think that information about the implementation of agreements will be available shortly, which will be the beginning of further actions.

As for the Azerbaijan-Armenia negotiations, Minasyan believes that certain impulses seem to be coming from the Turkish side. They are trying to pay attention to the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations without making them dependent on relations with a third country (in this case, Azerbaijan).

It should be noted that before this meeting, the Turkish media wrote that the main topic would also be the "Zangezur Corridor."

Turkologists say that the "corridor" is strategically important for Turkey and integral to the country's South Caucasus policy. "At the same time, Turkey considered the position of various, including major powers, related to this issue, and a certain change took place in the rhetoric. Turkey's main goal is to have greater access to that road in terms of opportunities."

According to him, the Turkish side will try to reach specific agreements with the Armenian side regarding this issue. "It is no coincidence that the Prime Minister of Armenia gave Erdogan the "Crossroads of Peace" project, presenting the Armenian point of view. On the other hand, it was interesting that Erdogan mentioned preserving countries' territorial integrity and the borders' inviolability."

It should be noted that Pashinyan and Erdogan met for the first time on October 6, 2022, in Prague. In 2023, on June 3, for the first time, Armenia participated in the inauguration ceremony of the President of Turkey at the level of the head of state. We should also note that until now, the special envoys have had 5 meetings on the issue of Armenian-Turkish settlement, but Armenian-Turkish relations remain unregulated, and the border is closed.

Hayk Magoyan