Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday that he expects Turkey to open its border with Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace agreement after his winning of parliamentary elections.
Speaking at a post-election press conference in Yerevan, Pashinyan said the vote showed public support for his efforts to normalize relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan and expand regional cooperation. Responding to a question from a Turkish journalist, he said he hoped both countries would respond positively to the election result.
“The people of Armenia voted for peace and regional cooperation,” Pashinyan said. “I hope there will be positive responses to this from both Turkey and Azerbaijan.”
Pashinyan said his government’s priorities remain a peace agreement with Azerbaijan and the normalization of relations with Turkey.
“We need to institutionalize peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and open our borders with Turkey. I mean that Turkey must open the border. We need to establish diplomatic relations,” he said.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and their land border has remained largely closed since 1993, when Ankara shut it in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Pashinyan said relations with Turkey had gained momentum in recent years and welcomed Ankara’s decision to allow Armenian goods to use the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway line. The railway connects Turkey and Georgia and gives Armenian exporters access to regional transport networks despite the closed Armenia-Turkey border.
“We have very good momentum with Turkey. We are satisfied for now, but we must continue this momentum to achieve a final breakthrough — the establishment of diplomatic relations and the full opening of borders,” he said.
Turkey and Armenia launched a process of normalization in 2022, appointing special envoys and agreeing on a series of confidence-building measures.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said that working groups from both countries have already held meetings on restoring the Gyumri-Kars railway connection, a project seen as a key step toward reopening transport links.
On relations with Azerbaijan, Pashinyan said a peace treaty should be signed as soon as possible after the two countries finalized the text of a draft agreement earlier this year following decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We need to sign a peace treaty,” he said. “We also need to launch the TRIPP project as soon as possible, which will change the rules of the game in the region.”
The TRIPP initiative, a regional transport and connectivity project intended to reopen trade and transit routes across the South Caucasus, would help overcome longstanding transport blockages by turning the region “from a dead end into a crossroads,” Pashinyan said.
Pashinyan has made reconciliation with Turkey and a peace settlement with Azerbaijan central to his foreign policy since Azerbaijan regained control of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023, arguing that regional connectivity and economic integration are essential for Armenia’s long-term security and development.
Turkey and Armenia have yet to establish diplomatic relations or fully reopen their border despite years of normalization talks. Armenia and Azerbaijan, meanwhile, finalized the text of a draft peace treaty earlier this year, although disagreements over implementation and constitutional issues have delayed its signing.