Today, the entry of Armenian humanitarian aid to the territory of Turkey through the Margara bridge and the return of Armenian rescuers through the same bridge are considered historic. Emphasis is made in such a way that the Armenian side no longer mentions that the Armenian-Turkish border was closed by Turkey in 1993 as a tool of pressure, Armenian opposition MP Gegham Manukyan told a press conference on Friday.
He reminded that back on July 9, 2022, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan visited the Margara bridge section on the Armenia-Turkey border and said that he got acquainted with the progress of the M3-Turkey border-Margara-Vanadzor-Tashir-Georgia border motorway repair work with the funds of the Armenian state budget.
According to him, on June 25, 2020, when there was no 44-day war yet, there were no Armenian-Turkish processes, and there was no talk of reopening the border at all.
"On those same days, Armenia's national security strategy is published where Turkey is seen as a dangerous state for Armenia, and in case of a possible conflict, Turkey can intervene and assist Azerbaijan. And in the [Armenian] government session of June 25, 2020, a change is made in the budget, with which it is planned to repair the Turkey border-Margara-Vanadzor-Tashir-Georgia [motorway] section, as well as the Talin-Karakert-Turkey border road. In fact, back then the [Armenian] government allocated more than 2 billion drams to repair the closed border road," said Manukyan.
When asked what these facts indicate, he said: "I must remind that at that time there were unofficial conversations that there are shadow discussions between Armenia and Turkey. Later, when journalists ask [then] Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian if there is an Armenian-Turkish dialogue, he does not deny, but says ‘I’m not aware of such a dialogue.’ There is no justification why more than 2 billion [drams] should be spent on the road starting from Margara bridge. That part has been considered an ‘appendix’ section for 30 years."
"My conclusion is as follows: In the current Armenia-Turkey relations, the Turkish side is limited to small, symbolic gestures which have no practical results for Armenia. The Armenian authorities are trying to present these gestures as historical events. But as evidenced by the [Turkish and Armenian FMs] Cavusoglu-Mirzoyan [joint] news conference [in Ankara on Wednesday], Turkey continues to condition all its relations with Armenia through negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and continues to speak in the language of preconditions. Turkey will continue its pressure until Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on the document which, although Armenia calls it a ‘peace treaty,’ is actually a treaty that creates the basis for [a new] war," Gegham Manukyan emphasized.