Mirzoyan states Armenia's readiness to open border with Turkey as soon as possible

YEREVAN, January 24. /ARKA/. Armenia is ready to open the border with Turkey as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told al press conference on Tuesday.

"The Armenian side is ready for the opening of this border. It is ready politically, in terms of infrastructures, roads, checkpoints and so on. The only thing that is missing for the border to be opened is the decision of the Turkish side," Mirzoyan said.

He noted that the agreement to open the border for holders of diplomatic passports from third countries remains in force, but there were no moves in this direction, so the border remains closed for them as well.

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

In December 2021, Armenia and Turkey appointed special envoys for normalization of their relations.

On July 1, 2022, the envoys agreed to open the border for the citizens of the third countries visiting Armenia and Turkey respectively.

An agreement was also reached to start the direct air transportation of goods between Armenia and Turkey as soon as possible.

PM Pashinyan said last year that the Armenian side had done a lot of work to re-equip and reconstruct the Margara checkpoint on the border with Turkey and was ready for its opening. -0-