Turkey will open its border with Armenia only after Yerevan signs a final peace agreement with Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told lawmakers on Tuesday, warning that any move before a deal is reached could undermine regional stability.
Fidan said during a presentation to parliament’s Planning and Budget Committee that an early normalization with Armenia would ease pressure on Yerevan to conclude negotiations with Baku.
“If we normalize relations at this point, we will have taken away the biggest reason for Armenia to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan,” he said. “We may then face the possibility of a frozen conflict in the region, which we don’t want.”
He said a draft peace agreement had been initialed in Washington, but that two issues remain unresolved: proposed constitutional changes in Armenia and the future of a transport route linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. Fidan referred to the route as the Zangezur Corridor, though it was renamed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity in August after a United States-mediated declaration.
Border closed since 1993
Turkey sealed its land border with Armenia on April 3, 1993, during the First Nagorno Karabakh War, after Armenian forces seized the Kelbajar region that surrounds the Karabakh territory. The two neighbors have had no diplomatic ties since then, though both sides have pursued cautious steps toward reconciliation in recent years.
Special envoys Serdar Kılıç and Ruben Rubinyan agreed in July 2022 to open border crossings for third country nationals and holders of diplomatic passports. Officials said at the time that implementation would begin as soon as possible, but the Margara crossing remains closed.
Fidan said Ankara is prepared to reopen the border and restore economic ties once a final peace deal is signed.
“The opening of the border and the revival of the economy are important issues for them,” he said of the Armenian government.
Talks continue
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has pursued normalization with both Azerbaijan and Turkey. Earlier this year he said Armenia would suspend its international campaign for the recognition of the 1915 mass killings as genocide, a step seen as aimed at improving relations with Ankara that drew criticism at home.
Negotiators held their sixth round of talks in September in Yerevan, the first meeting on Armenian soil. They agreed to prepare measures that would allow multiple airlines to operate flights between the two countries starting in the summer of 2026.
A previous attempt to repair ties, known as the Zurich Protocols, was never ratified by the Armenian parliament and was dropped in 2018.