Pashinyan confirms plans to attend COP31 climate summit in Antalya

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on November 5 that he plans to visit Türkiye's Antalya, where the UN climate conference COP31 will take place from November 9 to 20. He received an invitation to the leaders' summit from Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in New York in September.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan intends to attend the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), which will take place in Türkiye's Antalya from November 9 to 20. He made the announcement on Thursday, November 5, at a briefing for journalists following a government meeting. “Yes, there are plans to visit Antalya to participate in COP,” the Armenian prime minister said in response to a journalist's question, Interfax reports.

The conference's key event will be the leaders' summit, which will take place on November 11–12 with the participation of heads of state and government. Türkiye will chair COP31, while Australia will lead the negotiation process. If the trip takes place, it will be Pashinyan's first visit to Türkiye since June 20, 2025, when he came to the country on a working visit, Anadolu Agency notes.

Erdoğan's invitation

The Armenian prime minister received the invitation to the leaders' summit personally from Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They met on September 23 at the Turkish House (Türkevi) in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also attended the meeting. According to the Communications Directorate of the Presidency of Türkiye, Erdoğan said Ankara supports normalizing relations with Yerevan in trade and transport and considers it important to maintain positive momentum. The Turkish leader also welcomed mutual steps in the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan and noted that expanding cooperation between the two countries in international organizations contributes to normalization.

The climate and environmental agenda has become another platform for dialogue between the neighboring countries in recent months. Yerevan hosted the UN biodiversity conference COP17 in October, and Pashinyan had told journalists in advance that Türkiye would be represented at the event at ministerial level.

From Dolmabahçe to the Ani bridge

In June 2023, Pashinyan attended Erdoğan's inauguration ceremony in Ankara. Two years later, on June 20, 2025, he made a working visit to Istanbul and held talks with the Turkish president at Dolmabahçe Palace. The visit was described as historic in Yerevan.

The normalization process is being conducted by the countries' special representatives, Serdar Kılıç and Ruben Rubinyan. In May 2026, Türkiye's Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz represented Erdoğan at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan. It was the highest-level visit by a Turkish official to Armenia since 2008. Following Yılmaz's meeting with Pashinyan, the sides agreed to jointly restore the historic Ani bridge on the border between the two countries and signed a memorandum to that effect. Yılmaz called normalization “extremely valuable” and an example for other regions, and also recalled that Turkish Airlines had resumed flights between Istanbul and Yerevan and planned to expand them.

Peace process in the South Caucasus

Peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains an important topic in the Armenian-Turkish dialogue. On August 8, 2025, the text of a peace agreement was initialed at the White House through the mediation of U.S. President Donald Trump, while Trump, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pashinyan signed a trilateral joint declaration.

Ильхам Алиев, Дональд Трамп и Никол Пашинян подписывают совместную декларацию в Белом доме

The agreement itself has not yet been signed or ratified. In October, Pashinyan said at a government meeting that this was his cabinet's priority and that he expected to secure its signing and ratification by 2031, AFP reports. Baku, for its part, is insisting on amendments to Armenia's constitution, which would require a nationwide referendum.

No official announcement has yet been made about a bilateral meeting between Pashinyan and Erdoğan in Antalya. Türkiye's president also invited a number of other leaders to the COP31 leaders' summit, including Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Tufan Erhürman.

Photo: Anadolu Agency; White House / Daniel Torok

Pashinyan confirms plans to attend COP31 climate summit in Antalya