Turkey has closed its airspace for flights by Armenian VIPs, including those of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, to third countries, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced in a May 5 interview with Russian 24TV.

This latest development comes after Turkey banned FlyOne Armenia from using its airspace following the opening of a monument in Yerevan on April 25 commemorating those who participated in the 1920s 'Operation Nemesis' program tasked with assassinating Ottoman officials who perpetrated the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry, on April 26, condemned the opening of the monument, describing it as honoring "terrorists who killed Turkish citizens and diplomats."

“Flights were made every day through Turkish airspace. Now we have closed it. They have closed it for VIPs. They shouldn’t be offended. They also closed it for Pashinyan’s plane. Only the speaker of the Armenian parliament came to the PABSEC meeting (in Ankara. — Ed.). We hosted the summit, so it was impossible to close (airspace. - Ed.) for a member of the organization," the diplomat said according to RIA Novosti.

Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan attended the PABSEC (Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation) summit in Ankara earler this week.

Photo: AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici