Former pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Member of Parliament (MP) Garo Paylan, who is of Armenian descent, has called on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to “immediately” open Turkey’s land border with Armenia, and “to ensure this peace becomes permanent.”
Paylan, now a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment think tank in Washington D.C., issued his appeal after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev initialed the peace agreement in Washington, D.C., on August 8, in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Paylan, now a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment think tank in Washington, D.C., issued his appeal after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev initialed the peace agreement on August 8, in the presence of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Paylan said in a post on X: “The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia have signed a HISTORIC agreement, ending decades of hostility, in the presence of U.S. President Trump. It is our duty to take urgent steps to ensure this peace becomes permanent. Mr. Erdogan: Open the Turkey-Armenia border immediately! Bring together the peoples of Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. Let us take this step without delay…”
On August 11, Pashinyan spoke by phone with Erdogan, who is also the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader, presenting the results of talks held in Washington with Azerbaijan and the United States. He emphasized that the current situation is more favorable than ever for implementing agreements reached in 2022, which concern opening the Armenia-Turkey border for holders of diplomatic passports and citizens of third countries—a plan agreed two years ago but still not enacted.
Paylan reiterated that swift action is essential to solidify the peace agreement and bring together the peoples of Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan without delay.
