Relationship dossier
Turkey
Armenia
Relationship assessment
Persistent disputes and a closed border coexist with cautious normalization efforts.
Turkey toward Armenia
-40Turkey closed its land border with Armenia in 1993 amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and has supported Azerbaijan. In 2022, Turkish and Armenian special envoys held talks on normalizing relations, but the border remained closed.
Armenia toward Turkey
-25Armenia has participated in normalization talks with Turkey through special envoys since 2022. In 2023, Armenia sent earthquake relief through the land border, a concrete but limited instance of cooperation.
Overall relationship
-30The relationship has been shaped by the closed land border, Turkey's support for Azerbaijan, and disputes connected to the historical legacy of the Armenian genocide. Normalization talks and Armenia's 2023 earthquake relief delivery show limited engagement, but do not displace the enduring political obstacles.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Turkey closed its land border with Armenia in 1993 amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and has supported Azerbaijan, while the two governments have periodically pursued normalization. Special envoys began talks in 2022, and Armenia sent earthquake relief through the land border in 2023. These steps indicate limited engagement amid persistent political disputes and an unresolved border.
Areas of tension
- Turkey's continued closure of the land border with Armenia.
- Turkey's support for Azerbaijan amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
- Disputes over the historical interpretation and international recognition of the Armenian genocide.
Key developments
Turkey closed its land border with Armenia amid the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Turkish and Armenian special envoys began talks aimed at normalizing relations.
Armenia sent earthquake relief through the land border into Turkey.
Major uncertainties
- The implementation and scope of the normalization steps agreed by the special envoys remain unclear.
- The extent to which Armenia-Turkey relations are affected by changes in the Nagorno-Karabakh context is uncertain.