Obama urges Armenia, Turkey to normalize relations

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Armenia and Turkey to “make every effort" to advance the normalization of relations between the two nations, the White House spokesperson said.

"U.S. President Barack Obama commended President Sargsyan of Armenia for his courageous efforts to achieve normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey and encouraged him to fulfill the promise of normalization for the benefit of the Armenian people," the White House said in a statement, following the closed-door meeting between the officials within the framework of the Washington Nuclear Security Summit.

U.S. and Armenian Presidents also discussed process of settlement to the Karabakh conflict, Armenia’s State Administration, in its turn, said in the statement.

Earlier President Serzh Sargsyan met Monday with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is also on a visit to Washington to attend the nuclear safety summit.

Process of Armenia-Turkey reconciliation has been starting since October 2009, when Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers signed in Zurich protocols on normalisation of relations.