News - Reconstruction of Armenia's Margara checkpoint with Turkey may be completed next week, SRC head says

The reconstruction of Armenia's Margara checkpoint with Turkey may be completed next week. The chairman of the State Revenue Committee (SRC), Rustam Badasyan, announced this in an interview with reporters, following Friday’s Cabinet meeting of the Armenian government. "The checkpoint is almost ready, maybe it will be ready already in the next week, there is practically no work left [to be done there]," he said. According to Badasyan, quality control is being carried out at this checkpoint. He informed that the Armenian government had made purchases from person only for the reconstruction of the Margara checkpoint because it was a matter of urgency, as they had to finish the work in a short period of time. The SRC chief assured, however, that these purchases from one person do not contain any corruption risks. According to Badasyan, in the event of the reopening of the Armenia-Turkey border, there was no agreement regarding the traffic of trucks. "Of course, there is both a positive side and there can be some negative side. But, naturally, having open borders is much better than having closed borders; it is an axiomatic truth," remarked the SRC chairman. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had announced on October 30 that the agreements reached between the special representatives of Armenia and Turkey will be implemented in the near future. "Armenia-Turkey border shall be opened for citizens of third countries and holders of diplomatic passports," Pashinyan had said, in particular.