Pashinyan meets Erdoğan in Antalya as Aliyev joins COP31 summit

ANTALYA — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on November 11 on the sidelines of the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, where Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is also participating.

The Armenian prime minister’s spokesperson, Melanya Harutyunyan, confirmed that the bilateral meeting had begun. Details of the discussions and any agreements reached were not immediately made public.

The three leaders attended the summit’s official reception and group photograph. There was no confirmed announcement of a separate meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev.

Although the summit focuses on climate change, the gathering has significant regional implications amid Armenia’s efforts to normalize relations with Turkey and conclude a settlement with Azerbaijan.

The Pashinyan-Erdoğan meeting comes as Ankara continues to link the opening of its border with Armenia to progress in Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations.

On November 10, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that preparations for reopening the railway and road crossings with Armenia had been completed.

However, the minister reiterated that implementation would depend on a final agreement between Yerevan and Baku, taking Azerbaijan’s concerns into consideration.

The statement reinforced a longstanding obstacle to normalization: despite negotiations between Armenia and Turkey, Ankara continues to make progress in bilateral relations contingent on developments involving Azerbaijan.

Armenian opposition figures have repeatedly challenged the government’s approach to regional normalization, warning against arrangements that could compromise Armenia’s sovereignty or place its bilateral relations under Azerbaijani influence.

The Antalya meeting therefore takes place against a broader debate over the terms of regional peace, the reopening of borders and Armenia’s ability to pursue an independent foreign policy.

No new border-opening agreement or other concrete outcome of the bilateral meeting had been officially confirmed at the time of reporting.