Turkey, Armenia mull border reopening

Turkish and Armenian diplomats on Tuesday met on their closed border to discuss resuming rail transport between the two countries, Turkey's foreign ministry said.

Officials at Tuesday's fifth meeting shook hands on a bridge in Alican-Margara on the border, and vowed to "assess the technical means needed to reopen the Akyaka-Akhurik railway border crossing, depending on regional developments", the Turkish ministry said in a statement.

The emissaries agreed to "facilitate the visa process for diplomatic passport holders", the statement said.

Armenia used the Alican-Margara bridge to send a humanitarian aid convoy to the victims of a powerful earthquake that struck Turkey in February 2023, claiming more than 53,000 lives.

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday visited the border crossing, which Yerevan recently renovated in the hope of a breakthrough