‘Ankara must not forget’ pro-government Azerbaijani media reacts to opening of Armenia–Turkey border

Following a decision by the Armenian government, the Margara (Alican) checkpoint between Armenia and Turkey was opened on 21 March for a ten-day period as part of a decision to send humanitarian aid to Syria through Turkish territory. Turkey’s decision to open its borders to Armenia caused a swift negative reaction from Azerbaijan.

On 20 March, Armenian authorities shared a statement that this decision was related to the ‘necessity of transporting humanitarian aid cargoes to be sent to Syria on behalf of Armenia by land through Turkey’.

Agos, an Armenian media outlet which is published in Turkey, wrote that the ‘acceptance of this decision will allow for faster and lower-cost transportation of humanitarian aid shipments to be sent to Syria’.

The two countries originally agreed to open the border to diplomatic passport holders and third-country nationals in the first phase, but Armenia is still waiting for Turkey’s final decision.

The border between Armenia and Turkey has been closed since 1993 due to the Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict.

During this period, the border was only opened in February 2023 to allow humanitarian aid to pass through, following the deadly Turkey–Syria earthquake.

After the decision was announced in Armenian and Turkish news, pro-government media outlets in Azerbaijan reacted negatively, expressing disappointment that the order had been opened.

Shortly after sharing details about the aid convoy, the Azerbaijani pro-government media outlet APA covered another update where Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan thanked his Turkish colleagues for cooperation in the process.

In an analytical article entitled ‘Rapprochement between Ankara and Yerevan: Turkey’s steps that disappointed Azerbaijan’, APA wrote that ‘the border between Turkey and Armenia, which had been closed for 32 years for known reasons, was opened today under the pretext of “transporting humanitarian aid from Armenia to Syria”’.

‘Ankara should also be well aware that Armenia has never been a reliable partner’

In their article, APA claimed that if Kostanyan thanked his Turkish colleagues, it meant that ‘Armenia did not make this decision unilaterally, and the Turkish side also had consent to it’.

APA also criticised Turkey for keeping the decision a secret, and called Turkish officials’ silence ‘suspicious’.

‘It is also known that behind the secret discussions between Turkey and Armenia on the border issue were circles in Turkey that wanted to get closer to Armenia, world imperialist forces, the Biden–Blinken administration, the European Union, and the Armenian lobby’.

‘The organisation of the [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan–[Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan meeting, Erdogan’s gift to Pashinyan in the form of a book, the recent visit of Turkish journalists to Armenia and their inspection of the Turkish-Armenian border can be considered part of this plan’, APA wrote.

‘There are other notable aspects of the Armenian–Turkish rapprochement. It is known that the Constitution of Armenia contains territorial claims to both Turkey and Azerbaijan. In addition, Mount Aghri [Mount Ararat] is depicted on the state coat of arms of Armenia’.

APA noted that the importance of the ‘Zangezur Corridor’, the proposed pathway connecting mainland Azerbaijan through Armenian territory to its exclave of Nakhchivan, is ‘emphasised at the highest level in Ankara. Even Turkey has assured Azerbaijan that the border with Armenia will not be opened until the Zangezur corridor is opened. Today, we see that this promise has also been forgotten. What happened that these promises were forgotten?’

‘Ankara should also be well aware that Armenia has never been a reliable partner, country, or neighbor. It is important to make the right choice now so as not to regret it later’, APA concluded.

Turkish authorities then made their own rebuttal of the accusations, sharing a statement from the country’s Directorate of Communications.

‘The claim in some press and publications that [the border opening with Armenia was] “an unexpected step from Turkey [and that] Baku remained unaware” is not true’.

The ‘Alican (Margara) Border Gate was opened only to ensure the passage and return of the humanitarian aid convoy to be delivered from Armenia to Syria via our country. With the decision of the Council of Ministers taken in 1992, Alican Border Gate was given the status of Temporary Border Gate to be used only for humanitarian aid shipments’.

This border crossing has also been used within the scope of the regular meetings held by the Turkey–Armenia border commissions on border issues.

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