Bloomberg: Turkey Considers Opening Border with Armenia in Next Six Months

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye

According to Bloomberg, Turkey might open its border with Armenia in the next six months. Sources say that Turkey is thinking about this move.

The border has been mostly closed since 1993. Though Ankara and Yerevan agreed in 2022 to allow people from other countries and diplomats to pass through, it's still shut. Turkey has said that it wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to make progress on their peace process before fully opening the border.

Things have been moving faster lately. In September, special representatives from both countries said they would speed up the reopening of border crossings. Even so, it's not certain if this means the border will be fully open or just a limited opening as agreed in 2022.

Turkey wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a formal peace treaty before it establishes full diplomatic relations with Armenia. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in November that if they normalize relations with Armenia too soon, Armenia won't have a good reason to sign the peace agreement. This could lead to a frozen conflict in the area.

In August, Armenia and Azerbaijan took a step forward by initialing a draft agreement in Washington. But Azerbaijan wants Armenia to change its constitution before signing the final document. Azerbaijan believes the constitution includes territorial claims against it.

Progress in diplomacy with both Azerbaijan and Turkey could really help Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan before the 2026 parliamentary elections.

Besides the border crossing, there are also talks about fixing and reopening the Kars–Gyumri railway. The EU is also talking about creating a special group with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the EU to work on regional infrastructure.

Neither the Armenian nor the Turkish Foreign Ministries have said anything about these recent reports.