On Tuesday, July 30, the fifth meeting of the special representatives will take place at the Armenian-Turkish border, announced the spokesperson of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ani Badalyan.
The special envoys of the two countries, Ruben Rubinyan and Serdar Kılıç, will meet at the Armenian-Turkish border for the first time. Previous meetings were held in Moscow and Vienna.
The first to report on the border meeting was Turkish journalist Sena Alkan, noting that the morning session will be held on the Armenian side, and the afternoon session will be held on the Turkish side.
The process of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations began at the start of 2022. The first meeting of the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey took place on January 14 in Moscow. Subsequently, the envoys held three more meetings in Vienna.
On July 1, 2022, in Vienna, Rubinyan and Kılıç agreed to facilitate the crossing of the Armenian-Turkish land border as soon as possible for third-country nationals and holders of diplomatic passports. However, these agreements have not yet been implemented.
Despite the closed border and the absence of diplomatic relations, trade between the two countries has almost never ceased in the post-Soviet period. According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, in January-May of this year, the trade turnover between Armenia and Turkey amounted to over $131 million. Of this amount, only $225,000 accounted for Armenian exports to Turkey, while the rest represented imports of Turkish goods to Armenia.
The trade figures for the five months are only $2 million higher than the same period in 2023.
