Author: Garo Vardanian

ANKARA

Direct trade between the neighbors of Türkiye and Armenia, long estranged but now seeking rapprochement, would be a “win-win” for both sides, according to a high-level Turkish Foreign Ministry official.

Speaking to a group of journalists, the official, who declined to be named, said trade between Türkiye and Armenia currently goes indirectly through neighboring Georgia and is worth $230 million, with approximately 15,000 trucks making the journey annually.

“If both parties can ensure the evolving of relations to a positive point by showing the necessary flexibility, this will be a win-win for both countries,” the official added.

Noting that the current process between Türkiye and Armenia is more seen as a “trust-building process” rather than a normalization process for both sides, the diplomat stressed that both sides have adopted an approach of taking confidence-building steps, with each step supporting the next, and not setting great expectations that may cause major disappointment.

The official added that Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic and Armenian Deputy Parliament Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, the special envoys for reconciliation appointed last December by both sides, agreed to continue the process step by step.

“The current situation is not the desired picture in Turkish-Armenian relations and it is necessary to make an effort to evolve this picture into the desired one,” the official added.

Confidence-building measures

On the confidence-building steps, the official said during their bilateral meeting on July 1, the special representatives agreed on two concrete proposals.

Stressing that the agreement by the envoys is not “the signing of a protocol” but rather reflects their agreement on two confidence-building measures to be taken in the coming days, the official added that they agreed to start work on realizing the confidence-building steps.

“It was written in a way not to slow down the process, but to avoid disappointments arising from excessive expectations in case there may be some problems experienced amid the process,” the official added.

Expressing optimism in the next meeting set for September, the official said there are technical steps to be taken by authorities of the two countries, adding that there are many technical details.

“These (details) should only be determined by the experts of that subject coming together,” the high-level official said, adding that each side is doing its own “homework” towards the next steps, identifying “the missing procedures or documents, determining the technical details needed.”

“We hope for relevant authorities of each countries to come together, hopefully in September, without too much delay, and from there on we can be at a point that would enable exchange of views on technical issues and ensure quick implementation of the process.”

The official also stressed that the situation on the ground is very different than anticipated from afar, pointing to the difficulties of renovating the infrastructure at border gates amid winter conditions.

“One foot of the historical Silk Road Bridge at the Ani Ruins is in Armenia and the other is in Türkiye,” in the Kars province, the official added, saying that it was destroyed by Russian soldiers during the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, also known as the ’93 war, based on the year 1293 in the Islamic calendar.

Stressing that repairing the historic bridge would be a “serious confidence-building step,” the official added: “For all this to be done, the physical conditions must also be suitable. Such a thing can’t be tried during the winter months.”

The first round of normalization talks was held in Moscow on Jan. 14, where both parties agreed to continue negotiations without any preconditions, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The Turkish and Armenian envoys met for the second time in Vienna on Feb. 24, and then on May 3 in the same city.

Also, a historic bilateral meeting took place between the foreign ministers of Türkiye and Armenia on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on the Turkish Riviera on March 12.

As part of the efforts, Türkiye and Armenia also resumed commercial flights as of Feb. 2 after a two-year hiatus.

Azatutyun.am graphic detailing Russian checkpoints in Meghri

YEREVAN (Azatutyun.am)—Citing increased drug trafficking and other illegal cross-border activities, Russian border guards controlling Armenia’s frontier with Iran have set up checkpoints along several roads in the country’s southern Syunik province.

Images of such checkpoints along the road linking Meghri to other towns appeared on the internet earlier this week, raising speculations about possible preparations for the opening of transit routes for Azerbaijan via the strategic mountainous region.

Syunik is the Armenian province through which Azerbaijan expects to get a highway and railroad connection with its western exclave of Nakhichevan under the terms of the Russia-brokered 2020 ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh. Under the document, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) is to ensure the security of traffic along the transport routes in Armenia for Azerbaijan.

Yerevan insists that it should maintain sovereignty over the roads, while Baku is seeking an extraterritorial status for them amounting to a corridor similar to the Russia-controlled Lachin corridor that connects Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh.

At a government session on August 4, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan again implicitly rejected the corridor logic for the unblocking of regional transport routes, saying that Azerbaijan even today can use all parts of Armenia, and not only Syunik, for transit purposes in accordance with Armenian legislation.

“We have been saying all the while that we are ready to provide this connection between the western districts of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. We are ready to ensure this connection even today, but it is Azerbaijan that does not use these opportunities offered by us. Even today we say: come, cross the border of Armenia, go to Nakhichevan in the manner prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan spoke after the latest escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh in which at least two Armenian and one Azerbaijani soldiers were killed in fresh fighting near the Lachin corridor where Russian peacekeepers are deployed under the terms of the 2020 ceasefire.

Amid the escalation the authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh announced that several Armenian villages along the current corridor would be evacuated until September when Armenians are to start using an alternative road connecting Armenia and the Armenian-populated region.

Bagrat Zakaryan, mayor of Meghri, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Tuesday that the Russian checkpoints recently spotted in Syunik were actually set up several months ago. In total, he said, five such checkpoints were placed at roads leading from Meghri to several towns and villages in Syunik.
After media reports about the installation of new Russian checkpoints near Meghri, the FSB Border Guards Department in Armenia explained that it was done in coordination with Armenian authorities to prevent illegal cross-border activities.

“In order to expose, prevent and thwart cases of smuggling, illegal migration and other offenses, in accordance with the law of the Republic of Armenia ‘On the State Border’ and in coordination with the Government, the National Security Service and other competent bodies of the Republic of Armenia, a number of equipped positions were formed early this year for the implementation of the border control service,” it said.

According to the FSB, a tense situation has been observed recently at the Meghri section of the Armenian-Iranian state border due to increased attempts of illegally smuggling drugs and psychoactive substances from Iran to Armenia. Moreover, according to the Russian side, violations of the border by representatives of extremist and terrorist groups were also recorded.

“Last year, in the area of the border guard detachment of Meghri, Russian border guards arrested two armed persons who had a large amount of weapons and ammunition with them,” the FSB said.
Armenian government officials have not yet commented on the presence of Russian checkpoints along the roads in Syunik.

Meanwhile, Meghri’s mayor acknowledged that the checkpoints create certain problems for local tourism.
“Tourists have to go through passport control procedures before they can visit several rural areas here,” Zakaryan said.