Istanbul–Yerevan flights planned amid slow progress in Armenian–Turkish talks

(Horizon Weekly) – Turkish Airlines has announced plans to launch regular passenger flights between Istanbul and Yerevan beginning in 2026, marking another tentative step in the long-stalled normalization process between Armenia and Turkey. According to Turkey’s special envoy for normalization talks, Serdar Kılıç, the national carrier is expected to operate daily flights starting March 11, 2026, a timeline reported by Sputnik Armenia. Armenian parliamentary officials had previously confirmed discussions on establishing the route, though without a fixed start date.

The announcement comes despite the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries and Turkey’s continued closure of the land border with Armenia since 1993. While Ankara and Yerevan declared their readiness to pursue normalization in December 2021 and appointed special envoys shortly thereafter, progress on substantive commitments has remained limited. Notably, agreements reached in Vienna in July 2022 to open the border to third-country nationals and initiate direct cargo transportation have yet to be implemented, more than three years later.

Kılıç’s visit to Armenia in September 2025 was framed by officials as an effort to accelerate the process, with the Armenian Foreign Ministry citing discussions on advancing previously agreed measures. Still, the slow pace of implementation and the continued closure of Armenia’s western border underscore persistent doubts about Turkey’s political will to move beyond symbolic gestures toward meaningful normalization. Against this backdrop, the prospect of direct flights may ease limited travel needs, but it also highlights the imbalance between announced initiatives and the enduring structural barriers that continue to define Armenian-Turkish relations.