OREANDA-NEWS  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation on Tuesday evening, the press service of the Armenian government reported.

"The Prime Minister congratulated the President of Turkey on the Eid al-Adha holiday. President Erdogan congratulated Prime Minister Pashinyan on his 51st birthday," the government said.

It is noted that the parties "exchanged views on issues on the bilateral agenda and expressed satisfaction with the intensification of contacts."

"In particular, it was noted the visit of Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz to Armenia to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, the decision to establish direct trade procedures between Turkey and Armenia, as well as the opening of the Akhalkalaki (Georgia)–Kars (Turkey) railway for exports from Armenia and imports to Armenia," - stated in the government.

There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia, and the border has been closed since 1993 on Ankara's initiative due to the Karabakh conflict.

Since 2022, Yerevan and Ankara have been negotiating at the level of special representatives on opening the border to third-country nationals and normalizing relations. The first meeting of the special representatives took place in Moscow on January 14, 2022.

On May 4, following a meeting in Yerevan between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, at which the parties discussed the normalization of relations, a protocol was signed on the implementation of work on the joint restoration of the historic Ani Bridge (Silk Road) located on the border of Armenia and Turkey.