More niceties, zero progress in third round of Turkey-Armenia peace talks
Turkey and Armenia's third round of rapprochement talks have produced little of substance as Armenians protested by in the thousands and called for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign.
Turkish and Armenian negotiators met in Vienna Tuesday for a third round of talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties and reopening the long-sealed land border between the two countries as thousands of Armenians demonstrated against the effort and called for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to step down.
The talks that began in January, more than a year and a half after Azerbaijan defeated Armenia with Turkey’s help in a bloody 44-day war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, have yet to yield any substantial results. Turkey is resisting Armenian demands for confidence-building measures such as allowing diplomatic passport holders from both sides to use the land border for future meetings that would be held either in Armenia or in Turkey.
The lack of movement was reflected in official statements put out by Yerevan and Ankara.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the envoys had “a sincere and productive exchange of concrete views and discussed possible steps that can be undertaken for tangible progress in this direction.” The Armenian side issued an identical statement saying that the envoys had “reiterated their agreement to continue the process without preconditions.” Diplomatic sources briefing Al-Monitor confirmed no progress had been made, but said that the meetings will continue.
