SO CLOSE YET WORLDS APART

Agos Weekly
Dec 18 2009
Istanbul

Armenia’s border with Turkey has been closed since 1993. Mark Grigoryan
met the Armenian villagers of Margara, who are setting their sights
on reconciliation

The village of Margara, in the Armavir Province of Armenia, lies
on the edge of the world. For the villagers their world ends by the
River Arax. On the other side is Turkey – a country that is unknown,
maybe hostile, big and alien.

Armenia’s border with Turkey has been closed since 1993

There is a bridge that spans the banks of the Arax. From Armenia one
can see the other side of the bridge. There is a big red Turkish flag,
a huge poster showing the outline of Turkey, and a large portrait of
the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal Ataturk.

To stand next to the flag, one has to drive northwards, to neighbouring
Georgia, cross the Georgian-Turkish border and then come back from
the Turkish side – a 500km journey to cover a distance one could
throw a stone across.

Villagers are already thinking about how they will sell their
agricultural products in the markets of Igdir, or along the Turkish
Black Sea coast. "It’s so difficult to take stuff to Georgia and
sell it there," villagers say. "We’d be better to do business with
the Turks rather than with Georgians."

Crossing the divide

The villagers of Margara have never crossed the border between Armenia
and Turkey. In fact, they can’t even greet their Turkish neighbours
with a wave, because that would be a violation of a border convention.

Armenian villagers are bracing themselves for the opening of the border

During the Soviet period it was the most strictly guarded border of
the USSR, as Turkey was a member of Nato. Despite opening briefly
at the beginning of the 1990s (when the USSR collapsed and Armenia
gained its independence) the border remains firmly shut.

Now, however, the villagers are bracing themselves for the opening
of the border.

Dreams without borders

"I want to see my grandfather’s house," says Nikolay. "I was told he
was handsome and had a big house. I just want to see it once."