YEREVAN, Oct 30 Armenia is ready for opening border with Turkey for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports, said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
“»I hope for the implementation of the agreements… with Turkey. They relate to the opening of the land border for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports. Armenia has done a lot of work to re-equip the (border — ed.) Margara checkpoint and is already ready for this processes (opening the border — ed),» Pashinyan said, presenting the draft budget for 2024 in parliament.
There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia; the border has been closed since 1993 on the initiative of Ankara. Difficult relations between the countries are caused by a number of circumstances, related, in particular, to Ankara’s support for the Azerbaijani position in the Karabakh problem and Turkey’s acute reaction to the process of international recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire.
In Moscow in January 2022, the first meeting of special representatives on the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey took place — Deputy Chairman of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan and former Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic. As the Russian Foreign Ministry reported, during the negotiations the parties showed a readiness to conduct dialogue in a constructive, non-politicized manner. Three more meetings took place in Vienna.