Ray of hope peeks through Turkey's sealed Armenia border - in pictures

The first direct talks in years between the rivals' envoys will take place in Moscow on Friday

A rare ray of hope is shining across the snow-capped mountains towering over Turkey's northeastern edge ahead of the first direct talks in years between the country and Armenia. All photos: AFP

'Since the border was shut in 1993, our region has become the country's blind spot, locked on all sides,' says Engin Yildirim, director of Turkey's Akyaka traders' association.

The Soviet Union's chaotic breakup in 1991 set off a wave of regional conflicts, sparking an all-out war between Christian Armenians and Muslim Azerbaijanis over the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh.

'In 1991, people would flock to both sides of the border to meet up, Vedat Akcayoz, a local historian, says. 'For two years, it was all the rage.'

Since then, a second war over Nagorno Karabakh in 2020 saw Azerbaijan reverse most of its losses and Armenia agree to a Russian-brokered truce.

'Our government is in favour of reopening the border and I believe the Armenians are too, Mr Akcayoz says. 'We have no problem with the Armenians, and they have no problem with us.'

The remote region's shop owners recall a time when Armenians would come across the border and buy their goods.

Few here like to talk about the underlining point of tension: the killing of what historians estimate is more than one million Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915-16.

'I am sure the date for the border's reopening has already been set,' former Kars mayor Naif Alibeyoglu says, as a Russian flag flies over a border crossing a few miles away where Moscow has set up a base in support of its Armenian ally.

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