Ekrem Imamoglu, the jailed mayor of Istanbul and presidential candidate of Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has expressed support for the U.S.-brokered peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
He described it as a historic opportunity to heal the wounds of a long-standing conflict that claimed thousands of lives and to restore good-neighborly relations in the region, Ermenihaber reports. Imamoglu congratulated Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan “for taking this courageous step.”
According to him, although Turkey’s authorities had declared their role as “rule-setters” in the region and worked to mediate between the two neighbors, Ankara was absent from the list of key actors in this crucial peace process.
He stressed that even though Turkey had supported Azerbaijan during the Karabakh wars and participated in strategic gains, no diplomatic steps were taken to secure the country’s presence at the negotiating table—something he sees as a serious weakness in Turkish diplomacy.
Imamoglu believes that peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be sustainable only if it is embraced by Turkey and the entire region within an inclusive vision.
He emphasized that Turkey must be directly involved in this process, and that normalization with Armenia, along with major infrastructure and transport projects, should be viewed in this context.
In his view, the path to becoming an influential and respected country in the region lies through democratic legitimacy, strong state institutions, and a rational, principled foreign policy.
On August 8, during a trilateral meeting at the White House between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a joint declaration was signed summarizing the results of the talks.
In Washington, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, in the presence of the leaders, initialed the “Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
