Turkey Lifts Restriction on Direct Trade With Armenia

Turkey removed a restriction on direct trade with Armenia on Wednesday. The adjustment permits shipments of goods from either country that travel through a third country to directly list their final destination or point of origin as Turkey or Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia have no formal diplomatic relations and their shared border has remained closed since the 1990s. The neighbors have been divided by historic grievances and Turkey's alliance with Azerbaijan. In late 2021 the two countries agreed to work toward improved ties and appointed special envoys to discuss reconciliation and border opening.

Those talks have already led to the resumption of direct flights between the countries and the easing of some visa restrictions. A Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that technical and bureaucratic preparations aimed at opening the shared border were continuing.

" The statement said Turkey would continue to support the development of economic relations in the region.

Armenian Reaction Armenia welcomed the change.

In 2020 Turkey backed Azerbaijan in a six-week war that resulted in Azerbaijan regaining control of much of the region. The two neighbors also remain at odds over the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey. Historians widely describe those events as genocide while Turkey rejects the term.