Armenia–Turkey border could open unexpectedly, Mirzoyan says

The process of opening the Armenia–Turkey border has reached a stage where the two sides could decide to open it at any time.

TodayPress TV reports that Armenian Foreign Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade Ararat Mirzoyan made the statement to journalists on October 16 on the sidelines of COP17.

According to the minister, there are steps that can be implemented at present, with connecting the electricity supply networks being the easiest. He said work in this direction was already underway and the process had begun.

“I think we will be able to see the first results in the near future, because this does not require extensive construction work. There are issues in the electricity sector that require substantial work, but there are also matters that can be resolved easily,” Mirzoyan said.

The minister also clarified his earlier remarks about the possibility of the Armenia–Turkey border opening unexpectedly one day, stressing that his words had been misrepresented.

“I said that a day might come when we wake up in the morning and find that the border has opened. In other words, the process has already matured to that point. I think what I said was quite reasonable,” he noted.

Mirzoyan said dialogue between Armenia and Turkey had intensified, and economic and trade issues were already being discussed at the diplomatic level.

“The dialogue is so intensive and the process has matured to such an extent that, figuratively speaking, we could wake up tomorrow and see both sides saying, ‘Enough, we are opening the border today.’ Look at how much distrust there was when we began this process, and look at how much cooperation there is now.

“Our dialogue and the process of normalising relations have matured considerably. We could reach a decision at any moment. Both they and we can open the Armenia–Turkey border,” the Armenian foreign minister emphasised.

Commenting on Azerbaijan’s position regarding the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Turkey, Mirzoyan said it was well known that Baku wanted the two processes to proceed in parallel. According to him, Turkish officials had also said that the two processes should advance simultaneously.

“It is no secret that Azerbaijan takes this view. In Turkey, too, they have generally said that the two processes should proceed in parallel. The point is that we now have peace with Azerbaijan, and we have trade with Azerbaijan. Life is moving forward. We say one thing today, and tomorrow something happens that allows us to feel more confident,” Mirzoyan said.

The minister claimed that rapid and substantial changes were taking place in the region in terms of the economy, infrastructure, trust and psychological factors, and that these changes were positive.

“Let us assess the current state of the process through the lens of today. Tomorrow, the situation could be more positive or more negative, because you can see what is happening around us,” Mirzoyan added.