Nikol Pashinyan moved through Istanbul's Sultanahmet quarter, not with pomp, but with purpose.
Just hours before meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Palace on Friday, the Armenian prime minister stepped into places few of his predecessors had ventured.
His first stop was the Armenian Apostolic Church in Istanbul.
The Holy Mother of God church is the Patriarchal Church of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, also known as the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, the autonomous see of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Then, as the call to prayer drifted across the quarter, he walked into the grand Sultanahmet Mosque.
Beneath the sweep of its blue domes, Pashinyan stood still, a foreign leader cloaked in local stillness.
Cameras clicked. Aides shifted, whispering in soft Turkish and Armenian. But for a beat, the moment held — sacred, shared.
Familiar, not just formal
It was, by every measure, a historic visit.
The first of its kind by an Armenian leader at this level to Türkiye. But it wasn't a stiff diplomatic exchange. It had warmth. Texture. Even a strange sort of ease.
Pashinyan met with members of Istanbul's Armenian community, some visibly moved by the gesture.
He thanked them with quiet words. He spoke of dialogue — fragile, yes. Ongoing. Real.
Later, at the Dolmabahce waterfront, President Erdogan welcomed him not just with handshakes but with familiarity.
Erdogan's office called their talks constructive, reiterating Türkiye's support for a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan — a "win-win," in the presidential office's words.
For Pashinyan, this trip was not just about geopolitics. It was also about symbolism. He needs progress: with Baku, with Ankara, with his own people.
In Istanbul, he chose to walk. Not just into a palace, but into a city layered with remembrance.
And for a day, the atmosphere among politicians, clergy, citizens was not tense or transactional, but disarmingly human. Warm. Almost palsy. The handshake wasn't just literal. It lingered.
In the end, Pashinyan seemed to soak in the hospitality of one of the world's greatest cities — Istanbul, often called the bridge between the East and West.
In a city that remembers, his presence said enough.
