The residents of Kars want the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border checkpoints, Turkish news portal Bianet reported.

The process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations led to demining work, which began on July 14 in the countryside of the village of Ibish on the border with Armenia in the Akyaka region in the eastern province of Kars.

Naif Alibeyoglu, who served as mayor of Kars from 1999 to 2009, told Bianet that the opening of the border crossings would be the most important achievement. Demining is more of a formality, he added.

Alibeyoglu started a petition to open border crossings in 2001 when he was mayor. Almost everyone in the city wanted the crossings to open.

“Today, the people expect with great hope the opening of the border crossings as well,” he told Bianet.

“Border crossings, the railway and the airways should be opened for use as soon as possible. These steps must be taken to demonstrate the seriousness of the normalization,” he added.

“The population of Kars was 325,000 until 1999. Today, the population of Kars dropped to 225,000. The number drops despite fertility. It's sending migrants because nothing but animal husbandry can be done in the region,” Alibeyoglu said.

Alibeyoglu noted that Kars and Turkey would have huge economic benefits if the problem with Armenia was resolved. “We attended a live broadcast on a TV channel and the Armenian officials had told us that we should look to the future and build a common future,” Alibeyoglu said.