Ankara [Turkey], July 2: Turkey and Armenia on Friday agreed on taking new steps toward normalizing their bilateral relations after the fourth round of talks between the two countries' special representatives in Vienna, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
In the meeting aimed to end decades-old hostilities, the two sides agreed to enable the crossing of land border between Turkey and Armenia by third-country citizens visiting either country at the earliest date possible, the ministry said in a statement.
Turkish diplomat Serdar Kilic and Vice President of Armenian National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan attended the meeting.
They also agreed on commencing direct air cargo trade as soon as possible, the statement said.
The two sides also discussed other possible concrete steps toward achieving "the ultimate goal of full normalization between their respective countries," it said.
In February, the two neighboring countries resumed charter flights between Istanbul and Yerevan.
In March, the two countries' foreign ministers met in the Turkish southwestern resort city of Antalya, expressing their willingness to continue to normalize ties.
The normalization process aims at establishing diplomatic ties, opening borders between the two neighbors, and launching mutual economic, trade and transportation projects.
Relations between the two countries were severed in 1993 during the first war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh when Turkey closed the border with Armenia in support of Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Armenia made serious attempts to restore ties between 2008 and 2009, with American and Swiss intermediation, but the effort broke down due to mounting pressure from Azerbaijan.
Source: Xinhua
