by Bayram Balci
At a time when Europe’s attention is mainly focused on the war between Russia and Ukraine, another conflict is still waiting to be resolved at the European borders. It is the Karabakh War, between Armenia and Azerbaijan, impacting the neighbouring countries - Russia, Iran, and Turkey. The latter’s role was decisive for Azerbaijan’s victory in the second Karabakh War (September 2020). Despite its heavy involvement in the conflict, Turkey is taking the perspective of normalisation with its Armenian neighbour and, in turn, Armenia is taking Turkey’s offer seriously. As a sign of both countries’ motivation toward this normalisation process, they each appointed an ambassador to start a new dialogue. Yet, a first attempt had already been made in 2009, within the framework of Protocols that remained unratified by both parliaments and, therefore, did not yield the expected results. Nevertheless, the fact that the current effort is taking place in a different context and the lesson learned in 2009 give reason to hope that the ongoing dialogue will give better results.