TURKEY, ARMENIA HOLD THEIR FIRST TALKS ON NORMALIZING TIES IN YEARS

Turkey and Armenia on Friday said their first round of talks in more than ten years was “positive and constructive,” raising the prospect that ties could be restored and borders reopened after decades of animosity. Turkey has had no diplomatic or commercial ties with its eastern neighbor since the 1990s. The talks in Moscow were the first attempt to restore links since a 2009 peace accord. That deal was never ratified and relations have remained tense. The Turkish and Armenian foreign ministries said on Friday the talks were held in a “positive and constructive” atmosphere, adding both sides were committed to a full normalization without any pre-conditions. They said special envoys had “exchanged their preliminary views regarding the normalization process”. Turkish diplomatic sources said the discussions between the delegations lasted for about 1.5 hours. Russia’s

TASS news agency cited Armenia’s foreign ministry as saying on Thursday that it expected the talks to lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations and opening of frontiers closed since 1993. (REUTERS)