Yerevan announced on Thursday that construction work on the Maraga check point on the border with Turkey has been completed and can be opened.
Territorial Administration Minister Davit Khudatyan said at a press briefing on Thursday that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had visited and inspected the check point.
Khudatyan, however, said that there was not “clarification” on a timeline for the opening of the border.
Ankara and Yerevan agreed in 2022 that the land border between the two countries would open as part of the Armenia-Turkey normalization process. The opening would allow cargo vehicles, as well as individuals from third countries possessing diplomatic passports to cross the border.
However, much progress has not been reported on the normalization, despite diplomats from two countries continuing talks to advance the process. Unofficial sources reported that the last time normalization talks were held at the Maraga crossing facilities.
The Armenian foreign ministry also provided an opportunity for European Union diplomats to assess the progress at the Maraga border check point.
Ruben Rubinyan, Armenia’s envoy tasked with overseeing the normalization process, said last year that Turkey continued to stall the implementation of agreements.
Despite the fact that Armenia and Turkey began discussion on normalizing relations “without preconditions,” Turkish officials, including the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have preconditioned the opening of the Armenia-Turkey border with the signing of a peace deal between Yerevan and Baku.
Ankara has also endorsed, and continues to push, Baku’s stated plan to open a land “corridor” through Armenia, connecting Azerbaijan proper with Nakhichevan and thus, Turkey.
