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Türkiye said Thursday that officials from Ankara and Yerevan held a second round of technical talks on rehabilitating and reopening the long-closed Kars–Gyumri railway, a key step in the ongoing normalization process between the two neighbors.
According to the Foreign Ministry, representatives of the relevant institutions met on Nov. 28 at the Akyaka–Akhurik border crossing and later in the Armenian city of Gyumri.
The ministry said the discussions were held within the framework of understandings reached by the special envoys appointed for the Türkiye–Armenia normalization process.
Delegations continued technical work aimed at restoring and reactivating the Kars–Gyumri railway, which has remained closed for decades.
According to the ministry, the meeting marked the second phase of efforts to advance connectivity and build confidence between the two countries as part of the wider normalization agenda.
Both Türkiye and Armenia have expressed determination to pursue normalization without preconditions and agreed to accelerate efforts to open border crossings.
The two countries share a complex history, with longstanding disputes over events involving Armenians during World War I.
Borders have been closed since 1993 following Armenia’s occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh.
Relations began to thaw after the 2020 Karabakh war, leading to the appointment of special envoys and limited agreements allowing third-country citizens and diplomats to cross the border.
Despite challenges, the Margara border crossing has been used twice for humanitarian purposes: first in February 2023 to send Armenian aid trucks after the earthquake in southeastern Türkiye, and again in March 2024 for humanitarian shipments to Syria through Türkiye.
Armenia has upgraded the crossing in preparation for potential future use.
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