Turkey and Armenia agreed Friday in normalization talks between the special representatives of each country that the neighbors would start direct air cargo trade between the countries at the earliest possible date, as they work to mend ties after decades of animosity.
The envoys for the normalization process between Ankara and Yerevan "agreed to enable the crossing of the land border between Turkey and Armenia by third-country citizens visiting Turkey and Armenia, respectively at the earliest date possible and decided to initiate the necessary process to that end," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kılıç and Armenian National Assembly Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, the special representatives for the normalization, held their fourth meeting in Vienna, Austria's capital.
"They also agreed on commencing direct air cargo trade between Turkey and Armenia at the earliest possible date and decided to initiate the necessary process to that effect," the statement also said.
The Turkish and Armenian officials also "discussed other possible concrete steps that can be undertaken toward achieving the ultimate goal of full normalization between their respective countries," it added.
"Finally, they reemphasized their agreement to continue the normalization process without preconditions," the statement said.
The first round of normalization talks was held in Moscow on Jan. 14, where both parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions, according to a statement released after that meeting.
The Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second time in Vienna on Feb. 24, and the third meeting was held on May 3, also in the Austrian capital.
Also, a historic bilateral meeting took place between the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on March 12.
As part of the efforts, Turkey and Armenia have also resumed commercial flights as of Feb. 2 after a two-year hiatus.
The two countries have been divided on a range of issues, including Armenia's occupation of Karabakh and the 1915 events during the Ottoman Empire era, and the border between the two neighboring countries has been closed since 1993.
Turkey has been working to normalize relations with Armenia in coordination with Azerbaijan since December.
