The Step the World Had Been Waiting Three Decades For
On Wednesday, Turkey did something that observers of the Caucasus region had long been waiting for, but that few had dared to believe would actually happen until the very last moment. Ankara lifted a series of customs restrictions on Armenia, thereby cracking open the door to direct trade between the two neighbors. To the average person, this sounds like a dull, technical piece of news from the world of foreign trade documentation. In reality, this event drags behind it a long trail of historical grievances, geopolitical calculations, and frozen conflicts that have resisted resolution for more than thirty years.
Reuters, which reported the decision, did not casually describe it as a new sign of normalization in relations. The phrasing is cautious but weighty. Behind it lies an understanding that the process set in motion several years ago — against the backdrop of Turkey rethinking its regional role — continues to gather pace. And while a full opening of the border and the establishment of diplomatic relations are still a long way off, these customs relaxations represent that very first practical step that shifts the rhetoric of reconciliation into the realm of concrete action.
How the Border Was Buried: A Brief History of the RuptureTo grasp the scale of what is happening, you have to rewind the tape more than three decades. In 1991, as the Soviet Union crumbled into pieces and its former republics were declaring their independence, Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia as a sovereign state. It was a gesture that, under different circumstances, could have become the beginning of good-neighborly relations. But circumstances took a different turn.
Just two years later, in 1993, Ankara unilaterally sealed its border with Armenia and halted all direct trade. The reason was simple and brutal: the first...
