The two men held talks there after a multilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Turkey that took place within the framework of the so-called “Consultative Regional Platform 3+3.”
“The Ministers discussed issues on the bilateral agenda and the ongoing Armenia-Turkey dialogue aimed at full normalization of relations,” read an Armenian Foreign Ministry statement on the talks. “Minister Mirzoyan reaffirmed the importance of implementation of the agreements reached in the process.”
The agreements were reached by Armenian parliament vice-speaker Ruben Rubinian and senior Turkish diplomat Serdar Kilic in July 2022 after several rounds of negotiations. They called for the opening of the border for Armenian and Turkish diplomatic passport holders as well as citizens of third countries. Rubinian complained earlier this year that the Turkish side has taken no steps to implement it.
Speaking at the 3+3 meeting earlier in the day, Mirzoyan stressed that Armenia “has already finalized the construction and technical equipment of the Margara border checkpoint on the Armenia-Turkey border."
Ankara has for decades made the opening of the border and establishment of diplomatic relations with Yerevan conditional on a resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict acceptable to Baku. Turkish leaders stuck to this condition even after the start of normalization talks with the current Armenian government in early 2022.
They have also said that an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal should call for a land corridor through Armenia to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in July that an agreement on the corridor would be the “final step” in the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
The Armenian government has ruled out any extraterritorial corridors to Nakhichevan that would pass through Syunik, the only Armenian region bordering Iran.
