Turkey, Armenia Hold 'Constructive' Talks on Mending Ties

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Istanbul, Turkey, August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Istanbul, Turkey, August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
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Turkey, Armenia Hold 'Constructive' Talks on Mending Ties

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Istanbul, Turkey, August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference after an extraordinary meeting of the OIC Executive Committee in Istanbul, Turkey, August 1, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he held "productive and constructive" talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Saturday as they bid to mend ties after decades of animosity.

The two met at a diplomatic forum in Antalya on Turkey's southern coast. Ankara has had no diplomatic or commercial ties with Armenia since the 1990s but they held talks in January in a first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord, which was never ratified.

Saturday's meeting was the first sit-down meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers since 2009. They spoke briefly on the sidelines of an OSCE meeting in November last year, Reuters said.

"It was a very productive and constructive conversation," Cavusoglu told reporters after the talks, which lasted 30 minutes. "We are making efforts for stability and peace."

Speaking through a translator, Mirzoyan said: "We are continuing the process of normalizing relations without preconditions ... We are making efforts."

The two countries are at odds over several issues, primarily the 1.5 million people Armenia says were killed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor to modern Turkey.

Armenia says the 1915 killings constitute a genocide. Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies killings were systematic or constitute genocide.

The two countries have said the January talks were "positive and constructive," raising the prospect that ties could be restored and borders reopened.

Tensions flared during a 2020 war over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Turkey accused ethnic Armenian forces of occupying land belonging to Azerbaijan. Turkey has since called for a rapprochement, as it seeks greater regional influence.



Iran Tells France its Nuclear Rights ‘Cannot Be Taken Away by Threats or War'

This photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a rally on Feb. 10, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)
This photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a rally on Feb. 10, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)
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Iran Tells France its Nuclear Rights ‘Cannot Be Taken Away by Threats or War'

This photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a rally on Feb. 10, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)
This photo released by the Iranian Presidency Office, President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks during a rally on Feb. 10, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Saturday that his country's right to pursue a civilian nuclear program cannot be taken away by war, as it traded fire with Israel for a ninth day.

"Iran has always announced that it is ready to provide guarantees and build confidence in its peaceful nuclear activities within the framework of international law," Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron in a phone call, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"The rights granted to countries and nations by international law cannot be taken away from them by threats or war."