Armenia and Turkey to launch direct air cargo

The Armenian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Turkey has lifted a ban on direct air cargo transportation between the two countries. 

According to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan, Turkey informed them of the decision on Friday. 

An agreement to begin direct cargo transport was reached last summer amid ongoing talks on normalisation of relations which emerged after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. 

‘We expect that the other agreement, ensuring the possibility of crossing the land border for citizens of third countries, will also be implemented as soon as possible’, Hunanyan told RFE/RL. 

The special envoys of both countries have also said that opening the land borders to third-country citizens would be one of the next steps towards normalisation. 

Turkey and Armenia resumed direct passenger flights after a two-year break early in 2022. 

Imported goods from Turkey are common in Armenia, making up 5% of Armenian imports in 2019 and amounting to $260 million.

Following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Armenia banned all imports of Turkish products for around a year, lifting the ban late in 2021. According to Armenian officials, the ban encouraged local production but also triggered additional inflation and hardship for local businesses. 

Turkey cut diplomatic ties and closed the land borders in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. 

Since then, the only serious attempt to normalise relations, in 2008–2009 failed. In 2018, Armenia annulled the protocols signed during those talks, refusing to tie Armenia–Turkish relations with the Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict. 

Turkey and Armenia have also long been in conflict over the Genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, which Turkey has refused to recognise.