A senior adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Ankara is ready to “normalize relations with Armenia”, The Washington Post reports.

In fall 2020, Turkey supported Azerbaijan’s war against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, but the official now says they could engage with Yerevan and even open the border crossing: “The problem for us has always been Armenian occupation of Azeri territory. That’s now resolved. If Armenia is willing to take a step, we are ready.”

Cyprus and Armenia might not be at the core of Turkish-U.S. relations, but solving these conflicts would hugely benefit Ankara’s relations with the West, the publication says.

In the war against Artsakh (Karabakh), Turkey supported Azerbaijan militarily, also by transferring terrorist mercenaries from the Middle East to fight against Karabakh. Armenia was the first to report on Turkey's deployment of thousands of Syrian fighters to Azerbaijan. International media publications followed suit, as did reactions from France, Russia, Iran and Syria. The Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army has already unveiled footage from the interrogation of two such terrorists captured on the front.