Die Türkei erwägt die Öffnung der seit den 90er Jahren geschlossenen Grenze zu Armenien | Bloomberg

This would be huge if true, as theres already plenty of trade being done between our countries trough third parties like georgia.

Turkey’s permanent border closure since 1993 **was already in violation of the Treaty of Kars.**

# Treaty of Kars (1921)

– Article XVII

>In order to ensure the continuance of relations between their countries, the Contracting Parties agree to take, in a common agreement, all the measures necessary to maintain and develop as quickly as possible railway, telegraphic, and other communications, **as well as to assure free transit of persons and commodities without any hindrance.** It is understood, however, that the entry and departure of travelers and commodities will be governed by the full application of all the regulations established in this regard by each of the Contracting Parties.

Turkey has also repeatedly blocked civilian transport to Armenia by air, which violated the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. It forbade countries from taking discriminatory measures against foreign airlines.

These blockades in the recent past happened in the worst of times:

* It happened during the 1988 Spitak Earthquake, when ~25K – 50K Armenians died, and up to ~130,000 were injured, and hundreds of thousands became homeless in the middle of wintertime (the quake struck on December 8th, 1988). When this happened, Turkey impeded and delayed humanitarian flights with international aid and randomly blocked the border. It continued to block international aid by air until forced otherwise by the international community in 1995.

>Shortly after Armenia’s 1988 earthquake, the Turkish government delayed shipments of humanitarian aid from anywhere in the world by officially imposing border blockades and impeding flights through Turkish airspace, said Simon Balian, executive director of the Fund for Armenian Relief at the Armenian Diocese based in New York City.

>Cargo planes carrying critical supplies had to take longer routes through Soviet airspace, and overland shipments were diverted through then-Communist-controlled Georgia and southern Russia, whose roads and bridges were in poor condition.

>Turkey’s actions prompted the U.S. Congress in 1995 to pass the Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act, which terminates U.S. foreign aid to any country that blocks delivery of U.S. aid to another country.

>[https://www.archivebuttons.com/articles?article=https://www.courant.com/1999/08/19/armenians-put-past-aside-extend-hand-to-turkey/](https://www.archivebuttons.com/articles?article=https://www.courant.com/1999/08/19/armenians-put-past-aside-extend-hand-to-turkey/)

* Before permanent land border closure in 1993, Turkey was forced to temporarily open the border for wheat shipments at the start of the „Cold and Dark Years (’92-’95‘). But it still managed to price-gouge Armenian consumers out of spite:

>One of the earliest occasions was the vital shipment of wheat which reached the earthquake-stricken Armenia) through Turkey, during the harsh winter of 1992–1993. What distinguished this shipment was its financial details:

>After many Byzantine tactics and several months of delay, Turkey finally agreed to send the 100,000 tons of wheat which the European community had promised to replace. After having humiliated the entire population of Armenia in bread queues, Turkey finally began to ship the wheat across the border in a very slow pace and to an extremely high price. The transport of wheat, all the way from Russia to Armenia, cost only two dollars per ton, payable in deprecated rubles. Turkey charged $56 per ton in hard currency. Armenia was forced to empty its reserves of foreign currency in order to avoid a bread riot.

>(Page 85: „Recognition, Responsibility and Reconciliation: The Trinity of the Armenian Genocide“ Europe Ethnica https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/3719005/4174624.pdf )

* Turkey then blocked airspace since 3 weeks before the start of the Second Artsakh War in 2020, refusing to provide explanations to airlines.

[https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31405167.html](https://www.azatutyun.am/a/31405167.html)

* Turkey then blocked airspace in 2023, because it was upset that Armenians put up a monument commemorating Operation Nemesis.

[https://apnews.com/article/turkey-armenia-monument-airspace-closed-9486c6c200893bf9239751082a593aa0](https://apnews.com/article/turkey-armenia-monument-airspace-closed-9486c6c200893bf9239751082a593aa0)