Armenia to temporarily open Türkiye border for aid to Syria

YEREVAN

A view of Mount Ağrı from Margara, where the Alican Border Gate on the Armenia- Türkiye border is located.

The Armenian government on Thursday announced that the Margara-Alican border gate with Türkiye will be opened for a period of 10 days to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian aid to Syria.

"The decision was made in relation to the necessity of transporting humanitarian aid consignments to the Syrian Arab Republic via land routes through Türkiye,” said an official statement from the government, as quoted in both Armenian and Turkish media.

“The adoption of this decision will allow faster and more cost-effective delivery of humanitarian aid shipments on behalf of the Republic of Armenia to the Syrian Arab Republic.”

The border will open on March 21 and remain open until March 31.

Previously, the border was temporarily opened to allow humanitarian aid entry from Armenia to Türkiye after devastating twin earthquakes hit Turkish southern cities on Feb. 6, 2023. This was the first such a move in 35 years.

The two countries have agreed to open the border for diplomatic passport holders and citizens of third countries, but Armenia is now awaiting Türkiye’s final decision.

“The opening of the Margara checkpoint will be a game changer and constitute a very important confidence building measure between the two countries. Unfortunately, Türkiye has not yet implemented the agreement we reached in 2022,” a senior Armenian official told the Hürriyet Daily News in Yerevan this month.

Armenia spent around $2.5 million to renovate the checkpoint, the official said, also recalling that Armenian border guards fully replaced the Russian guards as of March 1.