ArmInfo.Agreements on opening the Armenian-Turkish border for certain groups of citizens so far are just words , the border continues to remain closed. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated on January 23 at a press conference in Yerevan, summing up the results of 2023.
In response to the corresponding question, he admitted that indeed, an agreement was reached between Yerevan and Ankara to open Armenian-Turkish border for citizens of third countries, as well as for citizens of Armenia and Turkey with diplomatic passports. At the same time, he added that this agreement was confirmed during the meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Tehran last October.
"Tangible results on this issue have not yet been achieved. The border for these groups of people continues to remain closed. Both sides have inspected the infrastructure, but the border continues to be closed. There is progress regarding the Ani Bridge, the Turkish side recently presented its vision, we will study and give an answer, and based on it we will move on," he said, once again emphasizing Armenia's readiness to open the border. He added that in this situation, only the willingness of the Turkish side is missing.
The special representative of Turkey in the negotiations on the settlement of relations between Armenia and Turkey, Serdar Kilic, said in January of this year that Armenia and Turkey had reached an agreement to give new impetus to the work of opening the border to citizens of third countries. "Regarding the opening of the border to third-country nationals, our minister mentioned in his speech that an agreement has been reached to give new impetus to work on this issue. The two ministers have reached this agreement, and we will do everything possible to begin the operation of the Margara Bridge as soon as possible," said the special representative of Turkey, presenting the results of the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey in Ankara.
The launch of the normalization process was announced on December 13, 2021 by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. At the same time, he emphasized that Ankara will act in coordination with Azerbaijan regarding steps to normalize relations with Armenia. After this, several rounds of negotiations took place between the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey.
The parties agreed last summer to open the border to citizens of third countries, but the border is still not operational. As it became known from ArmInfo sources, the reason is on the Turkish side. The Armenian side has prepared everything for the activation of the border checkpoint, however, no work has yet been carried out in this direction on the Turkish side.