To better care for survivors after the earthquake disaster, Turkey has opened a border crossing with Armenia - despite deep enmity with the neighbouring country. According to the press spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, Vahan Hunanyan, several trucks with humanitarian aid passed the Margara Bridge on Saturday, which leads to the border post in the province of Iğdır. The last time this was possible was in 1988 after a quake in the ex-Soviet Republic of Armenia. The land border between Turkey and Armenia has been closed since 1993.

Garo Paylan, an HDP MP of Armenian origin, expressed his delight. "Let's get something good out of this great disaster. Solidarity saves lives!" the politician wrote on Twitter. Earlier, the government in Yerevan sent 27 aid workers to the Turkish earthquake zone to help rescue trapped people. "Regardless of the difficult relations and situation, Armenia has extended a helping hand and declared its readiness to provide humanitarian assistance to both Turkey and Syria," Foreign Minister Ararat Mirsojan said. The rescue team from Armenia was deployed in the Kurdish province of Adıyaman, which had a high Armenian population until 1915.

Armenia's assistance is significant in several respects given the tensions between Ankara and Yerevan. Around 1.5 million Armenians were victims of a Young Turk genocide that essentially took place between 1915 and 1917. Moreover, Turkey is Azerbaijan's closest political and military ally. Armenia has complained of belligerent aggression on the part of the ex-Soviet republic for decades. Most of the conflict was over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian aid workers are also supporting the search and rescue work in Syria. For centuries, the country has also been home to the Armenian community. Especially during the genocide of 1915, Syria was an important place of protection and refuge for the persecuted minority.