Armenia and Turkey discuss resumption of Gyumri-Kars railway

YEREVAN, April 28. /ARKA/. Representatives of Armenia and Turkey discussed the restoration and launch of the Gyumri-Kars railway line, the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

A meeting of the joint working group of the two countries took place on Tuesday in Turkey's Kars as part of the agreements reached during the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.

According to the Foreign Ministry press service, the parties noted the importance of the speedy launch of the Gyumri-Kars railway service in the context of expanding transport communications in the region. 

On the Armenian-Turkish Dialogue 

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations, and the border between the two countries has been closed since 1993 at the initiative of Ankara.

In December 2021, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ruben Rubinyan and former Turkish Ambassador to the United States Serdar Kılıç were appointed special representatives for the normalization of relations.

Direct cargo air transport between the countries became possible on January 1, 2023. On September 24, 2024, in New York, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed their readiness to continue normalization without preconditions.

On April 12, 2025, the foreign ministers of the two countries discussed the bilateral agenda on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum. On September 12, 2025, at a meeting in Yerevan, Rubinyan and Kılıç agreed to accelerate the implementation of agreements on opening the land border to third-country nationals and persons with diplomatic passports, as well as on the railway project, the Gyumri-Kars power line, and increasing the number of flights.-0-