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Armenia's border with Türkiye could open in the coming months, with diplomatic relations potentially established between the two neighboring countries for the first time in decades, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.
"I personally see no problem with opening the Armenian-Turkish border, I see no problems with establishing Armenian-Turkish diplomatic relations. Our Turkish colleagues have also confirmed this," Mirzoyan said in an interview with German media group Deutsche Welle. "Therefore, I believe that in the coming weeks and months we will achieve quite tangible progress in this direction. This is a matter of, I don't know, a maximum of several months. This is my perception. Let's see how it all turn out."
The potential breakthrough comes after years of frozen relations between the two countries, which share a border but have never established formal diplomatic ties.
Mirzoyan noted that Türkiye had previously emphasized it could not complete the border-opening process without normalized relations between Yerevan and Baku. However, he said, a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan has now been initialed, making bilateral relations between Yerevan and Ankara possible.
"The Turkish side expresses and demonstrates in practice its readiness to open borders, resume railway communication and resume bilateral direct trade, not to mention the establishment of diplomatic relations," the Armenian foreign minister added.
The move would represent a significant shift in regional dynamics, potentially opening new economic corridors and transportation routes between the two nations.
The two countries came close to establishing relations in 2009, when their foreign ministers signed protocols in Zurich on establishing diplomatic ties and defining principles for bilateral relations. But those documents were never ratified. Armenia announced it was annulling the protocols on March 1, 2018.
In 2021, both countries appointed special representatives to work on normalization. Türkiye named Serdar Kılıç, its former ambassador to the United States, while Armenia appointed Ruben Rubinyan, deputy speaker of parliament.
The special representatives met on Sept. 12 at the Margara checkpoint to discuss the normalization process. During that meeting, they confirmed their readiness to implement agreements from July 1, 2022, which would allow the opening of borders for citizens of third countries and diplomatic passport holders.
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