Desperately scrolling through foreign policy titles to alleviate its mounting domestic and foreign woes, Turkey is initiating a new opening with Armenia, aiming to turn decadeslong hostility into hospitality.

Turkey and Armenia have mutually appointed special envoys as the first step in reinstating the ties severed in 1993. This will be followed by the resumption of charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan. 

The envoys are expected to lay out a road map for the normalization process. Turkey had recognized Armenia after it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 but stopped short of establishing diplomatic relations. Following the occupation of Kalbajar by the Armenian forces in 1993, Turkey sealed off its borders with its eastern neighbor, closing off its land and air borders in solidarity with Azerbaijan. While air borders were reopened in 1995, the land borders remain sealed off.

Establishment of diplomatic ties and unlocking the borders are of critical significance for Ankara to realize its strategic aspirations in the South Caucasus and beyond. Normalization may also help Turkey to repair its tarnished image in the eyes of European and US capitals over Ankara’s military involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh clashes last year.