Turkish Press: Armenia-Turkey border could open at any time, minister says

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Thursday that the border between Armenia and Turkey could open at any time, although Ankara has linked full normalization to a final peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the state-run Armenpress news agency reported.

Speaking during a joint session of the Armenian parliament’s standing committees on the 2027 draft state budget, Mirzoyan described dialogue with Turkey as active and productive, saying the two countries had reached a stage where the border could be reopened and diplomatic relations established.

“Despite all the progress and positive momentum, the Armenia-Turkey border remains closed at this point. However, the process has matured to such an extent and the sides have reached such a good understanding on numerous issues, that the Armenia-Turkey border could open and diplomatic relations could be established at any time,” Mirzoyan said.

Turkey closed its land border with Armenia in 1993 in support of its ally Azerbaijan during the war over Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara and Yerevan have never established diplomatic relations, despite signing normalization protocols in 2009 that were never ratified.

The remarks come amid increased diplomatic and economic contacts between the two countries. Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz visited Yerevan in May, where he met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and attended the signing of an agreement on the joint restoration of the historic Ani Bridge on the border between the two countries.

Turkish Airlines also launched direct flights between İstanbul and Yerevan in March. In May Turkey announced that it had completed the bureaucratic preparations for direct trade with Armenia, allowing goods to be designated as originating in or destined for the other country even when transported through a third country.

Mirzoyan said the removal of the customs obstacle meant bilateral trade could now be conducted directly in customs terms, although goods still physically pass through Georgia. He also pointed to student scholarship programs and business forums as examples of cooperation.

The Armenian foreign minister said the next Armenian-Turkish business forum was expected to take place in Armenia early next year, following a meeting between business representatives from both countries in the Turkish city of Kars.

The two countries have also maintained high-level contacts. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Pashinyan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, where they discussed normalization, trade and transportation links. Erdoğan invited the Armenian prime minister to attend the COP31 leaders summit in Turkey in November.

Armenia’s preparations for reopening the border have also advanced. In August, Mirzoyan visited the Margara border checkpoint, where Armenian officials said renovation and technical upgrades had been completed and the facility was ready to operate. The crossing remains closed to regular traffic.

Full normalization nevertheless remains tied, in Ankara’s position, to an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agreement.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in November 2025 that Ankara would be ready to normalize relations with Yerevan once Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a final peace agreement. He claimed that opening the border before an agreement was reached could remove an incentive for Armenia to conclude negotiations with Azerbaijan and leave the region facing a frozen conflict.

Armenia and Azerbaijan initialed the text of a peace agreement in Washington in August 2025, but formal signing and ratification are still pending.

Azerbaijan has also called for constitutional changes in Armenia, arguing that the constitution’s reference to the country’s Declaration of Independence amounts to a territorial claim over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The declaration invokes a 1989 resolution on unification with the region. Armenia rejects Baku’s interpretation.

In parliamentary elections in June, Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party won a majority but fell short of the two-thirds majority required for parliament to approve putting a new constitution to a referendum. The constitutional dispute remains an obstacle to concluding the peace agreement.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but was governed for decades by ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Armenia. Azerbaijan regained parts of the region and surrounding territories in the 2020 war before taking full control of the enclave in September 2023.