I have worked for years for the normalization process of Turkey-Armenia relations, and my dream is for this border to open as soon as possible. Garo Paylan, a former Armenian member of the Turkish parliament, on Wednesday told this reporters in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

“I think that by January or February of next year we could see very good developments. If everything goes well, the [Armenia-Turkey] border will open in January or February for citizens of third countries. After that, I hope, within a few months, the citizens of Turkey and Armenia will also be able to cross the border. I see a bright future for Armenian-Turkish relations.

Turkey now wants to move forward — there is such a decision in Ankara, and that is important. But the biggest obstacle has been that Azerbaijan and Turkey pursue a unified policy: in Armenia–Turkey relations, Azerbaijan could have been an obstacle, and in Armenia–Azerbaijan relations, Turkey could have been an obstacle. Now these two [processes] are advancing together, and these months will be very decisive both for Turkey–Armenia and Armenia–Azerbaijan normalization.

“If Western countries also help a little to convince Turkey and [Azerbaijani president Ilham] Aliyev, then everything can move forward together,” Paylan added.

Asked why Turkey has put off opening its border with Armenia, he recalled that back in 2012, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had promised that the border would open for citizens of third countries, but Aliyev had called Erdogan and said not to open the border until he gave the order.

“Also, he had said that the Azerbaijani SOCAR oil company would make an $8 billion investment in Turkey. Erdogan is an opportunist president and always calculates what benefits he personally has. Unfortunately, Erdogan did not see any benefit from Western countries in this regard, and the border remained closed. But now I think Turkey and Azerbaijan have realized that after the August 8 agreements it is time to move forward, and there is such a decision in Ankara,” added the former Armenian member of the Turkish parliament.