Pashinyan, Erdogan discuss bilateral agenda by phone

YEREVAN. June 3 (Interfax) - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke on the phone on Tuesday evening, the Armenian government's press service said.

"The prime minister congratulated the Turkish president on Kurban Bayram, and President Erdogan wished a happy 51st birthday to Prime Minister Pashinyan," the press service said.

The sides "exchanged views on the bilateral agenda and welcomed the intensification of contacts," it said.

"In particular, the visit of Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz to Armenia for the European Political Community summit, the decision to establish procedures for direct trade between Turkey and Armenia, and the opening of the Akhalkalaki (Georgia) - Kars (Turkey) railway for Armenian exports and imports were mentioned," the press service said.

There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, and the border has been closed since 1993 at Ankara's initiative over the Karabakh conflict.

Special representatives of Yerevan and Ankara have been negotiating border reopening to citizens of third countries and normalization of bilateral relations since 2022. They had their first meeting in Moscow on January 14, 2022.

A protocol on the joint reconstruction of the Ani historical bridge (Silk Road) on the Armenian-Turkish border was signed on May 4 after a meeting of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz in Yerevan, where the sides discussed the bilateral normalization process.