Pashinyan: Armenia looks forward to border opening, launch of rail connectivity with Türkiye

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reiterated that Yerevan is looking forward to the opening of the Armenian-Turkish land border and the establishment of railway connectivity amid efforts to unblock regional routes and infrastructure.

“We are currently focused on implementing the TRIPP project,” he said at a panel discussion at the 2026 Concordia Annual Summit in New York City, held within the framework of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly. “As a result of implementing this project, we will fully open up regional connectivity. Armenia has effectively been blockaded since the early 1990s, and the TRIPP will open a new era for our country and our economy, because first and foremost, we will have railway connectivity with Azerbaijan. We are looking forward to the opening of Armenia’s border with Türkiye and, within that framework, railway connectivity between Armenia and Türkiye as well,” Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the implementation of the project will change international logistics, as the international community will gain a new route between East and West.

“As a result, which is not directly connected to TRIPP, railway connectivity will also open between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea,” the Prime Minister said.

Pashinyan recalled that years ago, the Government of Armenia launched the Crossroads of Peace project, which, together with all of the above, is becoming a reality.

Türkiye unilaterally closed its land border with Armenia in 1993. The two countries have intensified normalization efforts in recent years, and Armenia has said it stands ready for Türkiye to open the border at any time. The border checkpoints have been upgraded and are ready to operate.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York that Yerevan and Ankara had made progress in the process of normalizing bilateral relations.