Armenia has reached an agreement with Turkey to repair the Ani bridge with joint efforts, as well as to take care of the relevant infrastructure before the full reopening of the Armenian-Turkish border. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced this today during his joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu, in Ankara.
Mirzoyan noted as follows in his remarks: "Dear Mr. Cavusoglu, dear attendees, first of all, on behalf of the Republic of Armenia, I once again express my condolences to the families of thousands of people who died in the devastating earthquake, to the people and government of Turkey, and I wish everyone a speedy recovery.
One of the bitterest pages in the history of my people was the devastating earthquake in Spitak [town of Armenia] in 1988, and today we are not unfamiliar with the sorrow that ‘visited’ thousands of families in Turkey. Similar natural disasters and their dimensions go beyond the borders of states, becoming universal tragedies. The world must act with a united front to overcome them. I believe that the international community should not remain indifferent in case of any humanitarian crisis occurring anywhere on the planet. And it was on this principle that the Armenian government made a decision to send rescuers and humanitarian aid to Turkey immediately after the catastrophic earthquake.
I thank Mr. Cavusoglu for his words of appreciation to our rescuers and the Armenian presence and support in general. I am very happy that the Armenian rescuers, with the support of their colleagues, managed to do the most important thing in this situation: to save human lives.
Also, consider it symbolic that on Saturday, the Armenian-Turkish border, which has been closed for almost 30 years, was opened for Armenian trucks loaded with humanitarian aid heading to Adiyaman. The same thing happened last night; and hours later, another batch of humanitarian aid [from Armenia] will reach Adiyaman.
Being in Turkey at this difficult moment, I once again want to reaffirm Armenia's readiness and aspiration to build peace in the region and, in particular, to fully normalize relations, establish diplomatic relations with Turkey, and fully [re]open the border between Armenia and Turkey.
I want to inform you that today we discussed certain details related to this process, we have an agreement to repair the Ani bridge with joint efforts, as well as take care of the relevant infrastructure before the full [re]opening of the border."