Turkish and Armenian envoys meet at border for talks on normalisation

Ankara and Yerevan resume efforts to repair diplomatic ties

Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, left, with Serdar Kilic, Turkey's special envoy for negotiation, at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum hosted by Turkey in March 2022. AP

Armenia and Turkey on Tuesday resumed a push to normalise relations two years after the last meeting between their envoys.

Armenia's representative Ruben Rubinyan and Turkey's special envoy for negotiations Serdar Kilic held talks at the Margara-Alican border crossing between the two countries, which is normally closed.

In a joint statement, the two sides said they agreed to assess requirements for a future rail link at a border crossing between the Turkish town of Akyaka and Akhurik in Armenia, and "to simplify their mutual visa procedures for diplomatic/official passport holders".

The meeting was the fifth to be held since Armenia and Turkey began talks at the beginning of 2022 to end more than three decades of diplomatic estrangement. The process has been complicated by the conflict between Armenia and Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

At the last meeting in Vienna in July 2022, the two sides agreed to open their border for crossings by third-country citizens, although the step was never implemented. Passenger flights have been operating between Istanbul and Yerevan since February 2022, a development that also resulted from the normalisation talks.

The delegations said they "reconfirmed the agreements reached at their previous meetings" on Tuesday, but did not set a date for opening the border to foreign citizens.

Both sides are keen in principle to normalise ties, and say they want to do so without preconditions. Turkish officials say their foreign policy aims to minimise issues with neighbouring countries and Turkish firms would probably benefit from direct trade across the land border. Despite domestic opposition, Armenian officials are also seeking better ties with their neighbours.

“Armenia remains committed and makes practical efforts towards normalisation of relations with the neighbours. We are ready to completely normalise relations with Turkey, establish diplomatic relations and open the Armenia-Turkey border,” Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said this month.

“We are committed to turning this vision into reality and implementing the agreed steps. We have a healthy dialogue with Turkey.”

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 over the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan, though its predominantly ethnic Armenian population sought to break away from Baku’s control in the 1990s. Azerbaijan's forces took control of the enclave last September, forcing its Armenian population to flee.

Turkey is one of Azerbaijan's closest allies and has provided the nation with military support, including drones.

Turkey once had a significant Armenian minority, but most of the population was driven out or killed in the early 20th century as the former Ottoman Empire collapsed, leading to significant numbers of Armenians resettling in Syria and Lebanon. Armenia has pushed for greater global recognition of what it considers a genocide.