On the air of Public Television, Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan stated that a “symbolic step” may be seen in Armenian-Turkish relations before the beginning of the year. Summarizing 2025, the Minister noted that regional unblocking projects, in particular the TRIPP project, would be incomplete without Turkey’s involvement; therefore, the process must also include the normalization of Armenia–Turkey relations.
According to him, dialogue with Ankara is not limited to talks alone, and concrete technical steps already exist. In particular, about a month ago a meeting of an expert group took place to assess the Gyumri–Kars railway junction. As Mirzoyan noted, the Armenian-Turkish expert group worked both on Turkish and Armenian territory, conducted studies, and work in that direction is already underway.
“Indeed, when we speak about unblocking and about building at least tolerable, mutually tolerant—let alone cooperative—relations with neighbors, of course there would be incompleteness if that normalization and the formation of such an environment and atmosphere did not also include Armenia–Turkey relations. We, I must say, and I have had various occasions to say this, have a very intensive and very positive dialogue with Turkey, but at the same time I have also said, and I want to emphasize once again, that the time has come for us to have major, tangible, concrete progress on the ground. Now we can say that very recently, about a month ago, for example, among other developments, a meeting of the expert group working on the assessment of the Gyumri–Kars railway junction took place. The Armenia–Turkey expert group was on Turkish territory, on that section, then moved to Armenian territory, carried out its studies, and work is already being done there. I say this to show that there are steps and that work is indeed being carried out, but I would agree that the time has come for us to already have major and very tangible progress as a fact, alongside the remaining work,” Mirzoyan said.
The Minister expressed confidence that normalization of relations is inevitable, as it is in the interests of both regional countries and major players such as the United States, Russia, the European Union, and Iran. Responding to the question of whether tangible movement could be expected at the beginning of the year, Mirzoyan avoided specifying clear timelines for the entire process, but expressed optimism that there would be positive progress in the near future, not ruling out the possibility of a symbolic step in the coming days.
“I think that we will definitely have very positive progress in this direction. I do not want to make predictions in terms of timelines; I think it is better to say that I believe it will be very soon, very soon. Overall, this is the process, this is the direction in which the region is going and will go. These are inevitably unfolding developments, because this is beneficial for Armenia, this is beneficial for Turkey, this is beneficial for Azerbaijan, if we look to the East. This is beneficial for all international partners: it is beneficial for Europe, for Central Asia, for the United States, for Russia, for Iran, and if I were nevertheless to make a forecast, my assessment would be very optimistic. I cannot say whether it will be on January 1, 10, 20, or 30. I cannot say whether it will be in January; I do not want to make such an assessment or forecast. I do not want to say that the entire process, all possible steps, will take place in January, or whether part of it will be in January, part in March, part in May or September or next December, but I do not think it will take that long in its entirety. But I want to say that I see—and I think it is obvious—that the processes are moving this way, and that is how it will turn out.
“For example, we may see a symbolic step before the beginning of the year,” the Minister said.
