70,000 Armenians work illegally in Turkey

It is believed that around 70,000 Armenian citizens are working illegally in Turkey despite the fact that the Turkish-Armenian border is officially closed and there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries. The official figure acknowledged by the Turkish side is 53,000.

Recently relations between the two countries have become friendly, Switzerland having brokered compromises on both sides. A ‘road map’ was drawn envisaging the eventual opening of the border between the two countries, however the Turkish side, most probably under Azeri pressure, later said that this would only be done in the event of a peaceful and just resolution of the Karabakh conflict. This however makes the Armenian side quite unhappy.