Türkiye said Thursday that officials from Ankara and Yerevan held a second round of technical talks aimed at rehabilitating and reopening the long-closed Kars–Gyumri railway, a key step in the ongoing normalization process with Armenia.
In a statement on X, the Foreign Ministry said representatives from the two countries met on Nov. 28 at the Akyaka–Akhurik border crossing and later in the Armenian city of Gyumri. The meeting was held under the framework of understandings reached between the special envoys appointed for the Türkiye–Armenia normalization talks.
According to the ministry, the delegations continued technical work focused on restoring and reactivating the Kars–Gyumri line, which has been closed for decades.
The ministry said the talks marked the second phase of efforts to advance connectivity and build confidence as part of broader normalization efforts.
Türkiye and Armenia have expressed their determination to pursue normalization of ties without preconditions and agreed to speed up the process to open border crossings between the two neighbors.
The two countries share a complex history. Armenia, for a long time, has accused Türkiye, or rather, the Ottoman Empire, of committing "genocide" against the Armenian population in the country during World War I. Türkiye has repeatedly denied the claims, although it has acknowledged a high number of deaths among Armenians due to isolated incidents and diseases.
Borders have remained closed since 1993 following Armenia’s illegal occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh. Relations began to thaw after the 2020 Karabakh war, with both sides appointing special envoys to pursue normalization talks and negotiating the reopening of their land border. So far, limited agreements have allowed third-country citizens and diplomats to cross, but a full reopening remains elusive.
Despite the hurdles, there have been tentative gestures toward cooperation. The Margara border crossing has been used twice in recent years for humanitarian purposes: in February 2023 to deliver Armenian aid trucks following a devastating earthquake in southeastern Türkiye, and in March 2024 for humanitarian aid shipments to Syria via Türkiye. Armenia has also upgraded the crossing in anticipation of future use.
