The two men agreed to “continue the dialogue” between their governments, according to the official Armenian readout of the call.
“The call addressed the contacts between Turkiye and Armenia as well as regional and global matters,” Erdogan’s office reported for its part.
“Highlighting the importance of comprehensive normalization in the region and peaceful negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, President Erdogan voiced his pleasure over the contacts between Turkiye and Armenia,” it added in a statement.
The statement thus indicated Turkey’s continuing linkage between the normalization of its relations with Armenia and an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement sought by Azerbaijan. Baku has set a number of conditions for signing a peace deal with Yerevan finalized in March. It also continues to demand a land corridor to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave that would pass through a key Armenian region.
Erdogan again publicly backed that demand after wrapping up a fresh visit to Azerbaijan last week. He said the corridor strongly opposed by Iran is important also because it would connect Turkey to Azerbaijan and other Turkic states.
Ankara stuck to its unconditional support for Baku even after Pashinian’s recent statements which many in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora believe questioned the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Pashinian declared in January that Armenians should “understand what happened” in 1915 and what prompted the subsequent campaign for international recognition of the slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians as genocide.
Armenian historians, opposition figures and retired diplomats expressed outrage at the statement, saying that Pashinian cast doubt on the fact of the genocide. Some of them claimed that this is part of his efforts to cozy up to Turkey, which continues to deny a deliberate government effort to exterminate the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.
In March, Pashinian told visiting Turkish journalists his government will not strive get more countries and international bodies to recognize the genocide. He questioned the wisdom of genocide resolutions already adopted by over three dozen countries, including the United Staes, saying that they undermine stability in the region.