Buoyed by Pashinyan, Erdogan Urges Yerevan to ‘Abandon Baseless Memories’

On the eve of the Armenian Genocide anniversary, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Tuesday urged Armenia to “abandon baseless memories,” and adopt a more “realistic” road plan as the two countries attempt to normalize relations.

The Turkish leader voiced encouragement based on recent remarks made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who last week told parliament that Armenia must focus on developing a policy based on its current sovereign borders.

Speaking to reporters on his return flight from Iraq, Erdogan seized on this opportunity to call on Armenia’s authorities to take note of the current realities in order to develop a roadmap for the normalization of relations with Turkey, the Türkiye news agency reported.

Asked about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s characterization of the 1915 events as a “great catastrophe” instead of a genocide and his criticism of the inclusion of Mount Ararat in Armenia’s state emblem, Erdogan said: “A new order is being established in the region.”

“It is high time to put aside baseless memories. It is always better to act in accordance with the realities of the time than to act on fictional historical narratives. This is what Pashinian now understands,” Erdogan said.

“Historians are interested in what happened in history. We have been very clear about this from the beginning and we said we would open our archives and we did. Now it is time to create new road maps on a realistic basis,” Erdogan added.

“I hope that Armenia will get rid of the darkness into which it was dragged by the [Armenian] diaspora and will choose the path of new approaches for the sake of a bright future,” the Turkish president told reporters.

Erdogan emphasized however that “the window of opportunity will not always be open, and [therefore] it is indispensable to use the moment effectively.”