Armenia and Turkey have reached an agreement to expand direct flights between the two countries, marking a new step in their ongoing efforts toward normalization after decades of closed borders and limited engagement.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced the development at the Orbeli 2025: Building Peace and Multilateral Cooperation international forum.
“There have been flights between Armenia and Turkey, and there is now an agreement to increase them—to Yerevan, Gyumri, and accordingly, to Istanbul, and possibly Ankara,” said Mirzoyan, emphasizing that Shirak Airport in Gyumri will also be included in the flight schedule, Aysor.am reported.
Mirzoyan noted that the main obstacles in Armenia-Turkey relations have been the closed border and the absence of diplomatic ties.
“I must note that we now have very intensive and substantive political dialogue with Turkey. The meetings have been public. Other confidence-building and cooperation measures are also under discussion,” he said.
At the same forum in Yerevan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that he has formally invited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an to attend the European Political Community summit scheduled for May 2026 in Yerevan.
Armenia and Turkey have had no diplomatic relations since Armenia’s independence in 1991, and the border has remained closed since 1993 at Turkey’s initiative. In December 2021, both countries appointed special envoys to lead normalization talks.
