Armenia - Turkey border reopening Q&A

[Francesco1966]

Hi guys,
It looks like Armenia and Turkiye, in a tentative thaw, have decided to reopen a border crossing, albeit only for foreigners. Anyway, no date has been set.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/1 ... -nationals

[StephParis]

This would be a big change ! They don't mention location, perhaps near Gyumri ?

[trikolka]

I searched some informations about that in russian language. Some flights between Armenia and Turkey started again in february 2022 (cargo + charter, apparently). I did not find informations about a possible date for re-opening land border. Armenian and turkish minister of foreign affairs had a meeting in march 2022 (i.e. after the beginning of war in Ukraina)

Looking at the map, the road to Gyumri is certainly the easiest to re-open. Other locations would require either building a bridge, or allowing more international transit in a region mostly populated by kurdish people (and I don't think turkish government is keen about it)

[fatnold]

any updates here???? I read they opened the border to foreigners from July 1 but can't really find any recent confirmation.

[StephParis]

I was there untill last week, border was still closed

[trikolka]

border closed. On the other side of Armenia, even Latchin corridor has been blocked, with the help of azerbaidjani army although it denied it, for now about 4 weeks

But I just find out a few direct flight between Istanbul and Erevan : I don't know when it started, maybe a couple of months ago (?), it's new to me. Some flights are operated by Fly One (IST airport), some others by Pegasus (Sabiha Gökçen SAW airport)

[steven]

Some more updates

"the sides had agreed to open their border to third-country nationals and diplomatic passport holders ahead of the 2023 tourist season."

"But, he warned, the recent catastrophe does not change the fact that Azerbaijan is wary of Armenia-Turkey normalization and possesses levers to stall it."

https://eurasianet.org/disaster-diploma ... malization

Armenian Foreign Ministry: Bridges and roads on border with Turkey are usable - https://news.am/eng/news/746195.html

[MikeTheLiid]

Multiple news articles are mentioning the opening of the Turkey - Armenia border at Gyumri. The specify for 3rd country passports.

Does anyone know if they are already open or planned to be opened?

[Milad]

There are plans, but the border is not yet open. Considering the recent shootings at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, I would not count on the border opening any time soon.

[StephParis]

So this shooting is a "blessing" for those who don't want this border to reopen...