Turkey and Armenia to restart direct trade, Ankara says

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · May 13, 2026 · 450 words · By Emre Basaran

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What to know about Turkey and Armenia to restart direct trade, Ankara says

Relations between the neighbours have been strained over historic grievances and Turkey’s close alliance with Azerbaijan.

Claims checked 12

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Relations between the neighbours have been strained over historic grievances and Turkey’s close alliance with Azerbaijan.

Why it matters

Turkey removed a restriction on direct trade with Armenia on Wednesday in a symbolic gesture towards improved ties between the longtime rivals.

Common ground

Under a new arrangement, shipments of goods from Turkey or Armenia through a third country may now directly list their final destination or point of origin as Turkey or Armenia, lifting a prior restriction on such designations, Turkish Foreign Ministry…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Turkey and Armenia to restart direct trade, Ankara says?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Turkey and Armenia have no formal relations?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/business/2026/05/13/turkey-removes-a-restriction-on-dir…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 8

help Insufficient Evidence 2

schedule Pending 2

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Claim 1: “Turkey and Armenia have no formal relations”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm that Turkey and Armenia do not have official/formal diplomatic relations.

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web search NEUTRAL — Turkey and Armenia do not have official diplomatic relations, and their common border has been closed since 1993.
https://modern.az/en/dunya/568252/turkey-and-armenia-on-land…

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web search NEUTRAL — Relations between Turkey and Armenia have long been strained by historic grievances and Turkey’s alliance with Azerbaijan. The two neighboring countries have no formal diplomatic ties and their joint …
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2025/12/29/turkey-a…

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web search NEUTRAL — Turkey and Armenia do not have official diplomatic relations. The border between the two countries has been closed on Ankara's initiative since 1993.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221006/turkish-president-believes…

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Claim 2: “Turkey removed a restriction on direct trade with Armenia on Wednesday”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent news sources (Reuters, AP, and others) confirm that Turkey lifted customs restrictions on direct trade with Armenia on a Wednesday.

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web search NEUTRAL — ANKARA/LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Turkey lifted some customs restrictions on Armenia on Wednesday, paving the way for direct trade links between the two countries in a further sign of normalising ties…
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/turkey-and-armenia-move-…

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web search NEUTRAL — ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey removed a restriction on direct trade with Armenia on Wednesday in a symbolic gesture toward improved ties between the longtime rivals. Turkey and Armenia have no formal r…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/turkey-removes-restricti…

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web search NEUTRAL — Armenia has welcomed Türkiye’s decision to remove restrictions on bilateral trade with Armenia, describing it as another important outcome of the ongoing normalization process between the two countrie…
https://en.armradio.am/2026/05/13/armenia-welcomes-turkiyes-…

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Claim 3: “Azerbaijan used Turkish military equipment in the conflict, including combat drones”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the gathered results to verify the use of Turkish combat drones or military equipment.

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Claim 4: “their joint border has been closed since the 1990s”

CORROBORATED

The claim is confirmed by a cross-reference from The Guardian and multiple web search results stating the border has been closed since the 1990s.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Armenians in Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Ermenileri; Armenian: Թուրքահայեր or Թրքահայեր, T’urk’ahayer, 'Turkish Armenians'), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 40,00…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Turkey

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Armenia–Turkey border (Armenian: Հայաստան–Թուրքիա սահման, romanized: Hayastan–T’urk’ia sahman; Turkish: Ermenistan–Türkiye sınırı) is 311 km (193 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with Geor…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia–Turkey_border

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey are officially non-existent and have historically been hostile. Whilst Turkey recognises the Soviet-Era borders of Eastern Armenia (that map to the mode…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia–Turkey_relations

+ 4 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Turkey... shut down its border with Armenia in 1993”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (Euractiv, AP News) specifically state that Turkey shut its border with Armenia in 1993.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Turkish invasion of Armenia, also known as the Turkish–Armenian War and known in Turkey as the Eastern Front (Turkish: Doğu cephesi) of the Turkish War of Independence, was a conflict fought betwe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_invasion_of_Armenia

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “In 2020, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan in its six-week conflict with ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia over Karabakh”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm Turkey's strong support for Azerbaijan during the six-week conflict in 2020 over Nagorno-Karabakh.

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web search NEUTRAL — What are Armenia and Azerbaijan fighting over? Disinformation spreads amid Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. 'Execution' video prompts Karabakh war crime probe. The BBC's Orla Guerin in Baku says that, ove…
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54882564

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web search NEUTRAL — The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until their expulsion in 20…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagorno-Karabakh_conflict

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web search NEUTRAL — In 2020, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant p…
https://arka.am/en/news/politics/armenia_expects_the_dialogu…

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Claim 7: “Azerbaijan regaining control of a significant part of the region and most of the ethnic Armenian population leaving”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the gathered results to specifically verify the extent of Azerbaijan's control or the population exodus for this specific claim index.

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Claim 8: “Ankara and Yerevan agreed in late 2021 to work towards improving the relationship and appointed special envoys”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm that in late 2021, Turkey and Armenia agreed to improve relations and appointed special envoys.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “The efforts have resulted in the resumption of direct flights between the two countries and the easing of some visa restrictions”

CORROBORATED

Independent sources confirm the resumption of direct flights and the easing of visa restrictions as a result of normalization efforts.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Anti-Armenian sentiment or Armenophobia in Turkey has a long history dating back to the Ottoman Empire, something that eventually culminated in the Armenian genocide. Today, anti-Armenian sentiment is…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Armenian_sentiment_in_Tur…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The joint Turkish–Azeri blockade of Armenia is an ongoing transportation and economic embargo against Armenia which has significantly impacted its economy and the regional trade dynamics of the Caucas…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish–Azeri_blockade_of_Arme…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “shipments of goods from Turkey or Armenia through a third country may now directly list their final destination or point of origin as Turkey or Armenia”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources (Modern Diplomacy, Türkiye News, and a report on preparations for direct trade) confirm that goods transiting through third countries can now list Turkey or Armenia as the origin or destination.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Armenians (Armenian: հայեր, romanized: hayer, [hɑˈjɛɾ]) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia. Armenians constitute the main demographic group in Armenia and constitute…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The confiscation of Armenian properties by the Ottoman and Turkish governments involved seizure of the assets, properties and land of the country's Armenian community. Starting with the Hamidian massa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confiscation_of_Armenian_prope…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Van is a city in eastern Turkey's Van Province, on the eastern shore of Lake Van. It is the capital and largest city of Van Province. Van has a long history as a major urban area. It has been a large …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van,_Turkey

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 12: “Historians widely view the event as genocide”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.