Two border crossings between Armenia and Turkey (Alican-Akyaka) may open within a few months. The Armenian side has already completed the necessary preparations, while the Turkish side is in the final stages, Deutsche Welle (DW) reports, noting that after decades of hostility, the two countries are very close to reopening their border, which has been closed since 1993.

The author of the article writes that the reopening of the border will be a major political victory for Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has consistently sought to normalize relations with Ankara. If the checkpoints are opened before the parliamentary elections in June, it will become a weighty argument in his favor. For years, Pashinyan has been making efforts to get closer to Turkey and integrate with the West.

Currently, trade between the two countries is carried out through a roundabout route through Georgia, and amounts to about $300-350 million annually. Kaan Soyak, the head of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council, is confident that direct communication will enable bilateral trade to reach up to $1 billion.

Turkey’s poorest eastern provinces have high hopes for the reopening of the border with Armenia. Local business expects an increase in trade and tourism, including on the account of the Armenian diaspora. An additional incentive is the “Trump Corridor,” a highway and railway route project through Armenia, which will link Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave, and then to Turkey.

However, the war with Iran has slowed the process, as fears of a new wave of migration have hampered negotiations on reopening the border.