U.S. “notes with disappointment” Turkey’s shutting of airspace to Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Vedant Patel, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, has said that the United States “notes with disappointment” Turkey’s announcement that it would suspend Armenian airline overflight permissions.

Turkey has closed its airspace to Armenian flights heading to a third destination in response to the unveiling of a monument in Yerevan Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday, May 3. The monument commemorates those involved in an assassination plot against Ottoman Turkish officials responsible for masterminding and committing the Armenian Genocide.

“The U.S. strongly supports Armenia-Turkey normalization, which we believe would be important for not just these two countries but helpful for stability across the region. We note with disappointment Türkiye’s announcement that it would suspend Armenian airline overflight permissions,” Patel told a briefing on Wednesday.

“An agreement that had previously been reached between these two countries to resume air connections had been a very important confidence-building measure – not just between these two countries, but, again, for regional stability broadly. And it’s our sincere hope that Türkiye and Armenia can continue to rebuild economic ties and open transportation links as well.”