BAKU, July 31 — The Turkish-Armenian border, closed since 1993, could be reopened if concrete progress is made in regional normalization efforts, Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan Birol Akgün said in an interview with APA.
According to Akgün, the normalization tracks between Turkey and Armenia, and between Armenia and Azerbaijan, must be seen as interconnected. “Both processes are moving forward in parallel,” he noted, pointing to the appointment of special envoys for Ankara-Yerevan talks in 2022.
The ambassador recalled that Turkey closed its border with Armenia over the occupation of Azerbaijani territories during the First Karabakh War. “Armenia has no access to the sea and suffers greatly from this isolation. Its eastern and western borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey are shut. The Armenian people bear the brunt of this,” he said.
Akgün emphasized that lasting peace would benefit all sides, but especially Armenia. “We want to accelerate the normalization process. If a sustainable peace deal is signed or initialed — particularly with regard to the Zangezur corridor — then, in coordination with Baku, Turkey may open its border with Armenia at an appropriate time,” he explained.
The future of the border, he stressed, will depend on how the overall peace process unfolds.
