ANKARA, Turkey — Armenian trucks crossed into Turkey for the first time in almost 30 years to deliver humanitarian aid to survivors following a pair of disastrous earthquakes this week.
It was the first time since 1993 that vehicles had transited the Armenian-Turkish border, Armenian diplomat Tigran Balayan said on Twitter.
The move was hastened by the situation following the devastating quakes, yet it followed recent normalization steps between the two countries aimed at ending years of tension.
Previous efforts to restore ties faltered as Turkey and Armenia couldn’t shake off decades-long hostility linked to the 1915 mass killing of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire rule. Many nations recognize it as genocide, a characterization rejected by Turkey.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency said trucks also passed through the Alican border gate in eastern Igdir province for the first time since 1988. Serdar Kilic, Turkey’s special representative for normalization talks, thanked Armenia for 100 tons of aid including food and medicine.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday said dozens of countries had either proposed or already dispatched rescue teams in response to the most powerful earthquakes felt in the region in decades.
More than 25,000 people have been killed across 10 Turkish provinces and Syria, with rescue and recovery efforts continuing.
(With assistance from Inci Ozbek.)
