Badasyan says renovation of checkpoint on Armenian-Turkish border will be completed soon

YEREVAN, July 20. /ARKA/. Active renovation is underway at the Margara checkpoint on the Armenian-Turkish border, said today the chairman of Armenia's State Revenue Committee (SRC) Rustam Badasyan, adding that it will be completed soon.

"The Armenian government has allocated financial resources for the reconstruction of the Margara checkpoint.," Badasyan said during a press briefing after the government session.

At the same time, he could not name a specific date, saying only that the work will be completed soon.

Journalists asked when the Armenian-Turkish border will be opened. Badasyan responded by saying that he was not authorized to answer such questions.

"The duty of the SRC is to ensure proper conditions at the border crossing point, which we are currently implementing," he said.

According to earlier reports, the Margara checkpoint was anticipated to be operational by early summer.

The Margara land checkpoint was opened for the first time in 30 years in February this year for Armenian trucks to deliver tons of food, medicine and other relief supplies to Turkey’s regions affected by the powerful earthquake.

Turkey shut down its border for Armenia in 1993, in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Armenia also started the repair of a large section of Armavir - Gyumri road running along Armenia’s border with Turkey.

In December 2021, Armenia and Turkey appointed special envoys for normalization of relations. On March 12, 2022, Armenian and Turkish Foreign Ministers met on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum where they confirmed their governments’ readiness to advance the normalization process without preconditions, which is to be followed by the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders between the two countries.--0--