Jan 14, 2022: According to a report by Reuters, envoys of Turkey and Armenia will hold the first round of talks in Moscow on Friday aimed at normalizing relations, in which Armenia hopes to reopen the border after decades of animosity and the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Turkey and Armenia have not had diplomatic or trade relations for three decades and the talks are the first attempt to restore ties since the 2009 peace agreement. The agreement has never been ratified and relations have been strained. The two neighbors differ on various issues, mainly the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915.

Armenia says the 1915 killings are genocide. Turkey acknowledges that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I, but denies the figures and denies that the killings were systematic.

During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ankara backed Azerbaijan and accused ethnic Armenian forces of occupying Azeri territory. Turkey began to demand reconciliation after the conflict, as it sought greater influence in the region.

Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Armenian Foreign Ministry as saying on Thursday that Yerevan expected the latest talks to lead to the establishment of diplomatic relations and the reopening of borders closed since 1993.

Turkey and Armenia do not have direct trade routes due to closed borders. According to official Turkish statistics, indirect trade has increased slightly since 2013, but in 2021 it was only $3.8 million.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last year the two countries would also launch charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan, but that Turkey would coordinate all measures with Azerbaijan. The flights are set to begin in early February.

Despite strong support from the United States for normalization, which hosts a large Armenian population and angered Turkey by calling last year’s 1915 massacre genocide, analysts say the conversation will be complicated. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Armenia needs to establish good relations with Azerbaijan in order to try to normalize the results.

Emre Peker, a London-based director at Eurasia Group, “Talks are likely to pave the way for more discussions in the coming months. But delivering a comprehensive, long-term pact will prove difficult due to the multifaceted nature of the talks and domestic political constraints in both countries,” he said.

“The bigger challenge will come from the question of historic reconciliation.”

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