Ankara on Wednesday (December 15th) appointed a former ambassador special envoy to work for the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, announced Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
"With the authorization of the president, our former ambassador to Washington Serdar Kilic will be officially appointed special envoy," the minister said on television.
Serdar Kilic was previously Turkey's Special Envoy to Japan and Lebanon.
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Turkish and Armenian airlines have applied for charter flights between Istanbul and Ankara, the minister said.
The Ministry of Transport will assess these requests and new information will be available in the coming days regarding the companies that will be able to operate, according to Mevlut Cavusoglu.
These steps towards standardization will be continued, assured the minister.
The Armenian genocide as a major discord
Armenia and Turkey have never established formal diplomatic relations. Their common border has been closed since the 1990s. A major dispute concerns the massive massacre of Armenians (1915-1916) during the First World War, Turkey refusing to recognize that it was a genocide, and condemning the position of the countries which recognize it. Tensions were fueled by Turkey's support for Azerbaijan, which in 2020 waged war on Armenia for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The Turkish minister spoke during a visit to Abu Dhabi.
Relations between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have thawed after the November visit to Ankara by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
According to Mevlut Cavusoglu, a visit to the United Arab Emirates by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could take place on February 14 and 15.
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