Turkey is considering reopening its land border with Armenia “in the next six months”, according to a report by Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter. The frontier has remained shut since 1993, when Ankara closed it in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Bloomberg, an international media outlet, reported that the prospective reopening would form part of a broader process linking Turkish–Armenian normalisation to progress in peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Despite agreements reached in 2022 allowing for the crossing of third-country nationals and diplomats, Turkey has so far kept the land border closed.
Under the 2022 arrangement, the two sides agreed to open their land border to citizens of third countries and accredited diplomats. Implementation has stalled, however, as Ankara has explicitly tied any substantive opening of the border to an eventual Armenia–Azerbaijan peace treaty. It remains unclear whether Turkey is considering a full reopening or a partial one limited to the provisions of that agreement.
After the latest meeting of the Armenian and Turkish special envoys in September — held first at the shared border and later in Yerevan — Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said the envoys had “agreed to expedite” efforts to reopen the border crossings. Those crossings, including the key Kars–Gyumri rail link, have been closed for more than three decades.
Bloomberg’s sources said Turkey is also weighing the appointment of an ambassador to Armenia, but would only move to restore full diplomatic relations once Armenia and Azerbaijan formally sign a peace treaty. Ankara reportedly expects such a deal could be concluded in the first half of next year.
“If we normalise relations now, we will be taking away Armenia’s biggest reason for signing a peace agreement,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in November. He warned that premature normalisation without a signed treaty could leave the region with a “frozen conflict”, something Ankara says it wants to avoid.
Armenia and Azerbaijan initialled a peace agreement in Washington on 8 August, in what was presented as a major step towards ending their decades-long dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. However, Baku has since insisted it will only sign the final document once Armenia amends its constitution, which Azerbaijani officials claim contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said any constitutional changes would only be decided via referendum after the 2026 parliamentary elections. Bloomberg wrote that, ahead of that vote, a diplomatic breakthrough with Azerbaijan and a reopening of the Turkish border could provide Pashinyan with an “important boost”, with the final peace treaty likely to be signed during his next term if he retains power.
Neither the Armenian nor the Turkish Foreign Ministry responded to Bloomberg’s requests for comment on the reported timetable.
In late November, Armenian and Turkish representatives met at the Akyaka–Akhurik border crossing and in the Armenian city of Gyumri. They discussed the “second stage of technical discussions aimed at the rehabilitation and reactivation of the Kars–Gyumri railway”, Armenian envoy Ruben Rubinyan said, as quoted by Armenpress.
Meanwhile, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said in early December that talks are underway on creating a quadrilateral working group comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the EU, aimed at developing regional connectivity infrastructure.