Armenia–Turkey border

The border starts in the north at the tripoint with Georgia just west of Lake Arpi and proceeds southwards via a series of irregular lines through the Armenian Highlands. Upon reaching the Akhurian River it follows the river south down to the confluence with the Aras river, and then follows the Aras as it flows east and then south-east, down to the tripoint with Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The ancient ruins of Ani lie directly adjacent to the border on the Turkish side.

The modern borders between Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Turkey were defined by the Treaty of Alexandropol (1920) and later finalized in the Treaty of Kars (1921).

File:Russia-Ottoman_wars_map.png

During the 19th century, the Caucasus region was contested between the declining Ottoman Empire, Persia and Russia, which was expanding southwards. Russia had conquered most of Persia's Caucasian lands by 1828, including all of what is now Armenia (termed Eastern Armenia), and then turned its attention to the Ottoman Empire.{{citation |url= https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79-00976A000200010005-2.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170124130921/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79-00976A000200010005-2.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= January 24, 2017|title=The boundary between Turkey and the USSR |date=January 1952|access-date=8 April 2020}} With the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople (ending the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–29), by which Russia gained most of modern Georgia, the Ottomans recognised Russian suzerainty over eastern Armenia.{{citation |url= https://fall.fsulawrc.com/collection/LimitsinSeas/IBS029.pdf|title=International Boundary Study No. 29 – Turkey-USSR Boundary |date=24 February 1964|access-date=8 April 2020}}{{cite book | title = The Cambridge Modern History | author = John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton | publisher = Macmillan & Co| year = 1907 | page = 202 }}{{cite book|editor1-last=Tucker|editor1-first=Spencer C.|title=A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East|date=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1851096725|quote="The Turks recognize Russian possession of Georgia and the khanates of Yerevan (Erivan) and Nakhchivan that had been ceded by Persia to Russia the year before."|page=1154}}

By the Treaty of San Stefano, ending the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Russia gained considerable land in what is now eastern Turkey (termed Western Armenia), extending the Ottoman-Russian frontier south-westwards.{{Citation |last= Hertslet |first= Edward |author-link=Edward Hertslet |year=1891 |contribution= Preliminary Treaty of Peace between Russia and Turkey. Signed at San Stefano 19 February/3 March 1878 (Translation)|title= The Map of Europe by Treaty; which have taken place since the general peace of 1814. With numerous maps and notes |volume= IV (1875–1891) |edition=First |publisher= Her Majesty's Stationery Office |publication-date=1891|location= London |pages= 2672–2696 |url=https://archive.org/stream/mapofeuropebytre04hert#page/2672/mode/2up|access-date=2013-01-04 }}{{Citation |last= Holland|first= Thomas Erskine |author-link= Thomas Erskine Holland |year=1885 |title= The European Concert in the Eastern Question and Other Public Acts |contribution= The Preliminary Treaty of Peace, signed at San Stefano, 17 March 1878 |publisher= Clarendon Press |location= Oxford |pages= 335–348 |url= https://archive.org/stream/europeanconcerti00holluoft#page/334/mode/2up |access-date=2013-03-04 }} Russia's gains of Batumi, Kars and Ardahan were confirmed by the Treaty of Berlin (1878), though it was compelled to hand back part of the area around Bayazid (modern Doğubayazıt) and the Eleşkirt valley.{{Citation |last= Holland|first= Thomas Erskine |author-link= Thomas Erskine Holland |year=1885 |title= The European Concert in the Eastern Question and Other Public Acts |contribution= The Preliminary Treaty of Peace, signed at San Stefano, 17 March 1878 |publisher= Clarendon Press |location= Oxford |pages= 305–06 |url= https://archive.org/stream/europeanconcerti00holluoft#page/334/mode/2up |access-date=2013-03-04 }}

During the First World War Russia invaded the eastern areas of the Ottoman Empire. In the chaos following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the new Communist government hastily sought to end its involvement in the war and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 with Germany and the Ottoman Empire. By this treaty, Russia handed back to Turkey the areas gained by the earlier Treaties of San Stefano and Berlin.

Seeking to gain independence from both empires, the peoples of the southern Caucasus had declared the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918 and started peace talks with the Ottomans.{{citation| author=Richard Hovannisian| title=The Armenian people from ancient to modern times| date=1997| pages=292–293| publisher=St. Martin's Press| isbn=978-0-333-61974-2 | oclc=312951712}} (Armenian Perspective){{citation| author=Ezel Kural Shaw| title=Reform, revolution and republic : the rise of modern Turkey (1808-1975)| series=History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey| volume=2| year=1977| publisher=Cambridge University Press| oclc=78646544| page=326}} (Turkish Perspective) Internal disagreements led to Georgia leaving the federation in May 1918, followed shortly thereafter by Armenia and Azerbaijan. With the Ottomans having invaded the Caucasus and quickly gained ground, the three new republics were compelled to sign the Treaty of Batum on 4 June 1918, by which they recognised the pre-1878 border.{{citation|author=Charlotte Mathilde Louise Hille | title=State Building and Conflict Resolution in the Caucasus| publisher=BRILL| year=2010| isbn=978-9-004-17901-1| page=71}}{{citation|author=Alexander Mikaberidze | title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World| publisher=ABC-CLIO| year=2011| isbn=978-1-598-84337-8| page=201}} Armenia in particular was reeling from the aftermath of the Ottoman-led Armenian genocide, which resulted in vast numbers of refugees fleeing Western Armenia.{{cite news|title = 8 facts about the Armenian genocide 100 years ago |url = http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/world/armenian-mass-killings/index.html|website = CNN.com|access-date = 13 December 2015}}{{cite web| title = 100 Years Ago, 1.5 Million Armenians Were Systematically Killed. Today, It's Still Not A 'Genocide'.|url = https://huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/23/armenian-genocide-controversy_n_7121008.html|website = The Huffington Post| date=23 April 2015 |access-date = 13 December 2015}}

With the Ottoman Empire defeated in Europe and Arabia, the Allied powers planned to partition it via the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres.{{Cite book |last=Helmreich |first=Paul C. |title=From Paris to Sèvres: The Partition of the Ottoman Empire at the Peace Conference of 1919–1920 |publisher=Ohio State University Press |location=Columbus, Ohio |year=1974 |isbn=9780814201701 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fromparistosevre0000helm/page/320 }} The treaty recognised Georgian and Armenian independence, granting both vast lands in eastern Turkey (in Armenia's case this was dubbed 'Wilsonian Armenia', after US President Woodrow Wilson), with an extended Armenia-Georgia border to be decided at a later date.{{cite book|last=Hovannisian|first=Richard G.|author-link=Richard G. Hovannisian|title=The Republic of Armenia, Vol. IV: Between Crescent and Sickle, Partition and Sovietization|publisher=University of California Press|year=1996|location=Berkeley, California|isbn=0-520-08804-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/republicofarmeni0000hova/page/40 40–44]|url=https://archive.org/details/republicofarmeni0000hova/page/40}} Turkish nationalists were outraged at the treaty, contributing to the outbreak of the Turkish War of Independence; the Turkish success in this conflict rendered Sèvres obsolete. Ottoman gains in Armenia were consolidated by the Treaty of Aleksandropol (1920).

In 1920 Russia's Red Army had invaded Azerbaijan and Armenia, ending the independence of both, followed shortly thereafter by Georgia. In order to avoid an all-out Russo-Turkish war the two nations signed the Treaty of Moscow in March 1921, which created a modified Soviet-Ottoman border.{{cite book|last=Tsutsiev|first=Arthur|translator=Nora Seligman Favorov|title=Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus|year=2014|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0300153088|page=79}}{{cite book|last=King|first=Charles|author-link=Charles King (professor of international affairs)|title=The Ghost of Freedom: A History of the Caucasus|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0195177756|page=[https://archive.org/details/ghostoffreedomhi0000king/page/189 189]|url=https://archive.org/details/ghostoffreedomhi0000king/page/189}} However, further fighting took place on the ground and the talks stalled; the treaty's provisions were later confirmed by the Treaty of Kars of October 1921, finalising what is the current Armenia–Turkey border. The border was then demarcated on the ground in March 1925 – July 1926 by a joint Soviet-Turkish commission. Turkey's independence had been recognised by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.{{Citation|date=24 July 1923|title=Treaty of Peace with Turkey signed at Lausanne|place=Lausanne, Switzerland|access-date=28 November 2012|url=http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Treaty_of_Lausanne}}

File:Treaty of Sevres , President Wilson Armenian Boundary 02.JPG

Armenia was initially incorporated along with Georgia and Azerbaijan in the Transcaucasian SFSR within the USSR, before being split off as the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1936.

The Kars Treaty border remained, despite occasional Soviet protests that it should be amended, notably in 1945.{{cite book|last=Khrushchev|first=Nikita S.|editor=Sergei Khrushchev|translator=George Shriver|title=Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: Reformer, 1945–1964|publisher=Penn State University Press|place=University Park, PA|date=2006|page=426|isbn=978-0271058597}}{{cite book|last=Suny|first=Ronald Grigor|author-link=Ronald Grigor Suny|title=Looking toward Ararat|publisher=Indiana University Press|place=Bloomington|date=1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lookingtowardara00rona/page/165 165–169]|isbn=978-0253207739|url=https://archive.org/details/lookingtowardara00rona/page/165}} Turkey, backed by the US, refused to discuss the matter, and the Soviets, seeking better relations with their southern neighbour, dropped the issue.{{cite book|title=From Encroachment to Involvement: A Documentary Study of Soviet Policy in the Middle East, 1945–1973|first=Yaacov|last=Ro'i|publisher=Transaction Publisher|year=1974|pages=106–107}}

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Armenia gained independence and inherited its section of the Soviet Union-Turkey border. Though Turkey recognised Armenian independence, relations between the two countries almost immediately soured and the border was shut: Turkey opposed irredentist claims to eastern Turkey by Armenian nationalists championing a 'United Armenia', as well as Armenia's efforts to achieve international recognition of the Armenian genocide; Turkey also supported its close ally Azerbaijan in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.William M. Hale. Turkish Foreign Policy, 1774–2000, Routledge, 2000, {{ISBN|0-7146-5071-4}}, p. 273 Relations thawed slightly in the 2000s decade, resulting in the signing of the Zurich Protocols in 2009, in which it was envisaged the border could re-open.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/10/10/626014_turkey-armenia-sign-deal-on-normalising-relations|title=Turkey, Armenia sign deal on normalising relations|date=2009-10-10|access-date=2009-10-10|work=The Sofia Echo}} The talks foundered, however, and the border remains closed.Gerard J. Libaridian. Modern Armenia: People, Nation, State, Transaction Publishers, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7658-0205-8}}, p. 245{{Cite news|title=The Ties That Divide |url=http://www.globalheritagefund.org/news/GHF_in_the_news/economist_ties_that_divide_june_17_06.asp|work=Economist|publisher=Global Heritage Fund|date=2006-06-15|access-date=2008-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405071809/http://www.globalheritagefund.org/news/GHF_in_the_news/economist_ties_that_divide_june_17_06.asp |archive-date=April 5, 2008}}

On February 11, 2023, the border was temporarily opened for the first time in 35 years, to let humanitarian aid from Armenia reach victims of a major earthquake in Turkey.{{Citation|date=11 February 2023|title=Armenia-Turkey border opened for first time in 35 years to allow aid through|access-date=25 March 2023|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/02/11/armenia-turkey-border-opened-for-first-time-in-35-years-to-allow-aid-through_6015313_4.html}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Amasia
• Byurakn
• Gyumri
• Akhurik
• Haykadzor
• Anipemza
• Tlik
• Getap
• Aragatsavan
• Bagaran
• Vanand
• Yervandashat
• Armavir
• Nalbandyan
• Janfida
• Pshatavan
• Margara
• Ranchpar
• Masis
• Mkhchyan
• Artashat
• Lusarat
• Yeghegnavan
• Ararat
• Aygavan
• Ararat

{{div col end}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

• Duruyol
• Akyaka
• Kars
• Kocaköy
• Tuzluca
• Iğdır
• Karakoyunlu
• Alican
• Taşburun
• Aralık

{{div col end}}

There were three crossings along the entire border, two for vehicular traffic and one for vehicular and rail traffic. They have been closed since 3 April 1993.

In July 2022, the Turkish Ministry for Foreign Affairs announced that the two countries, in the context of a general thaw of their relationship, plan to reopen the border "at the earliest possible date", albeit only for third party nationals.{{Cite news |title=No: 212, 1 July 2022, Press Release Regarding the Meeting of the Special Representatives for the Normalization Process Between Türkiye and Armenia, Ambassador Serdar Kılıç and Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ruben Rubinyan |url=https://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_-212_-turkiye-ve-ermenistan-normallesme-sureci-ozel-temsilcileri-nin---gorusmeleri-hk.en.mfa |access-date=July 2, 2022}}

In February 2023, Alican border crossing was opened to allow the passage of humanitarian aid from Armenia to Turkey following the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.{{cite news |url=https://www.dw.com/en/turkey-syria-earthquakes-death-toll-passes-24000/a-64672674 |title=Turkey-Syria earthquakes: Death toll passes 24,000 |website=Sözcü |date=11 February 2023 |access-date=14 February 2023}}

It was last opened after the Spitak earthquake in Soviet Armenia.{{cite news |url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2023/gundem/son-dakika-insani-yardim-icin-turkiye-ermenistan-kara-siniri-35-yil-sonra-acildi-7588680/ |title=Turkey-Armenia border was opened for humanitarian aid after 35 years|website=Sözcü |date=11 February 2023 |access-date=11 February 2023}}

File:Mount Ararat, Ararat Plain, Armenia-Turkey border, Armenia.jpg|International Armenia–Turkey border near Khor Virap

File:Armenia-Turkey border.jpg|Border fence near Ani

File:Armenia Turkey border.jpg|The border along the Arkhurian river

File:Turkish-Armenian border barb wire fence near Yereruyk4.jpg|Border fence near Yereruyk

File:20110419 bridge Akhurian River Ani Turkey.jpg|Destroyed bridge over the Arkhurian river

File:Ani-Turkish-Armenian border.jpeg|Border near Ani

File:Margara, Armenia - panoramio.jpg|border near Margara

File:Armenia Turkish Border Guard.JPG|Armenian border post

• Armenia–Turkey relations

{{reflist}}

{{Borders of Armenia}}

{{Borders of Turkey}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenia-Turkey border}}

Turkey

Category:Borders of Turkey

Category:International borders