Turkey and Armenia will formally resume direct trade after a 33‑year suspension, a Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Wednesday. The two governments say the bureaucratic steps required to allow goods to be classified as direct exports from Turkey to Armenia were completed on 11 May.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan during the war over the Nagorno‑Karabakh region. Since late 2021, after Azerbaijan’s recent offensive in the disputed territory, Ankara and Yerevan have moved cautiously toward normalisation. Trade between the neighbours has previously been routed through Georgia, where goods incurred transit taxes. Under the new arrangement, shipments can be recorded as originating in Turkey and destined for Armenia, although physical transport will still pass through a third country because a functional border crossing has not yet been opened.
The foreign ministry said technical and bureaucratic work on establishing a common border crossing remains ongoing. Both countries also share a border with Iran, which may become relevant to future logistics.
Armenia’s foreign ministry welcomed Turkey’s decision to lift the ban on bilateral trade, calling it an “important step towards the development of full‑fledged and normal relations.” The two sides have already taken concrete measures: last month they agreed to reactivate the Kars‑Gyumri railway line on both sides of the frontier, and Turkish Airlines operated its first direct flight between Istanbul and Yerevan in March.
Nevertheless, historical grievances persist. Armenia continues to seek international recognition of the 1915‑1917 killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide, a claim Turkey denies, arguing that the deaths occurred amid the broader turmoil of World War I.
The restart of direct trade is a significant milestone in the broader rapprochement process that began in 2022. It could boost economic activity for both economies and set a precedent for resolving long‑standing regional disputes through dialogue. Observers note that the next critical step will be the opening of a functional land crossing, which would enable more efficient movement of goods and passengers.
Both governments have indicated that they will keep working on the remaining technical issues, suggesting that the trade normalization process is likely to continue advancing in the months ahead.
