Armenia says work ongoing toward swift Türkiye border reopening and Azerbaijan

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Saturday that work is ongoing toward the swift signing of the initialed peace treaty with Azerbaijan, as well as the reopening of the land border with Türkiye.

“I believe the time has long come for contacts between officials of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Türkiye to be part of everyday working relations,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, commenting on recent increased interactions and meetings between officials of the three countries.

Addressing questions about the prospects of the reopening of the Armenia–Türkiye land border and the final signing of a peace agreement with Azerbaijan, Pashinyan said there were no new developments in that regard.

“There is nothing new, but there is daily work underway. We are trying to find opportunities to develop relations in various directions,” he said at a press briefing. 

In this context, he noted that Turkish Airlines recently launched flights to Armenia.

“We hope that one of the Turkish airlines will also operate flights to Gyumri,” Pashinyan added.

The prime minister stressed that for him, the question is not whether the Armenia–Türkiye border will open or whether a peace agreement with Azerbaijan will be signed, but when it will happen.

According to Pashinyan, work is currently underway to ensure that these developments take place as soon as possible.

Türkiye unilaterally closed its land border with Armenia in 1993.

The two countries have intensified normalization efforts in recent years and reached an agreement that the first phase would envisage opening the border to citizens of third countries as well as diplomats.

Armenia’s border checkpoint with Türkiye has been modernized and is ready for operations.