In a move signaling Armenia’s continued shift away from Russian security arrangements and closer engagement with Turkey, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that Armenian forces have taken full control of operations at the Alican Border Gate on the Armenian-Turkish border as of March 1.
Pashinyan, in a statement posted on his personal Facebook page, highlighted that this transition follows infrastructural refurbishments conducted in the summer of 2022. Russian Border Guard Troops had been stationed at the site since those upgrades, overseeing border security on Armenia’s side. However, with this latest decision, their role has come to an end.
The shift comes amid ongoing normalization efforts between Armenia and Turkey, a process that has raised concerns among many in Armenia given Turkey’s longstanding blockade of the country, its refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and its continued alliance with Azerbaijan. In January 2023, Turkey’s special representative for normalization talks, Serdar Kılıç, revealed that both sides had agreed to accelerate efforts to open the border to third-country nationals. Pashinyan’s latest decision appears to align with this broader policy of rapprochement with Ankara.
While Pashinyan expressed gratitude to the departing Russian border guards, his government’s continued moves to reduce Russian security influence—while simultaneously pursuing diplomatic overtures with Turkey—have drawn criticism. Many question whether such shifts serve Armenia’s national interests or simply reflect Pashinyan’s broader realignment efforts at the expense of Armenia’s traditional security partnerships.
