Armenia’s reformist prime minister says he’s ready to establish relations with Turkey after his bloc won a landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. Nikol Pashinian, a former journalist who was swept into power in May after leading mass protests that forced out his predecessor, said his government was ready to forge ties “without preconditions” with Armenia’s historic rival and hoped Ankara was ready to do the same.
Why it matters: Pashinian, 43, won on a mandate of ending the rampant corruption, poverty and joblessness that have bedeviled the former Soviet state since its independence in 1991. Establishing diplomatic ties and reopening the border with Turkey would help ease the grip of the oligarchs who monopolize Armenia’s economy.
