Turkey-Armenia Border... As of 2014, the only closed border in Turkey. 

The border was sealed by Turkey on April 3^rd, 1993, two years after Armenia’s independence, in response to the Nagorno Karabakh war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

There are two gates waiting to be unsealed on the 328 kilometres long Turkey-Armenia border stretching through the provinces of Kars, Iğdır and Ardahan: Alican Gate in Iğdır that connects to Yerevan by land route, and Doğu Kapı Gate in Kars that connects to Gyumri by railway. 

The status of the sealed border is best symbolised by the ancient Silk Road Bridge in the city of Ani on the Arpaçay/Akhuryan River which forms the border between the two countries. The arch of the bridge, only 30 metres long, lies collapsed. 

The pillars of the bridge, one in Turkey and the other one in Armenia, continue to wait for the bridge that will reconnect them…

This report is the final product compiling the findings of the Research on the Socio-Economic Impact of the Turkey-Armenia Border carried out by the Hrant Dink Foundation in 2012-2013 in cooperation with the Bahçeşehir University Center for Economic and Social Research (BETAM) and Social Research Center (SAM) with the support of TÜSİAD (Industry and Business Association of Turkey), Istanbul Policy Center of Sabancı University and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Turkey Office. It presents the econometric analysis, projections for employment in case of an open border scenario and its social implications. Following the prefaces by Cengiz Aktar, Volkan Vural and Prof. Dr. Asaf Savaş Akat, it features the expert opinion by Prof. Dr. H. Neşe Özgen and quotes from Kars, Iğdır and Ardahan interviews. In the last chapter, it lists policy recommendations and stresses the importance of opening of the border gates and reactivation of the Kars-Gyumri Railway.

Attachments:

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