I do not think the opening of the Turkish border and the withdrawal of the [Russian] 102nd military base from Armenia should be linked to each other. It is a political decision, a subject of discussion that has been raised by the Russian side. The Armenian side has said it is ready for that discussion with any outcome.

During a briefing, Armenia's Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan said this in response to a question about whether the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border and the normalization of relations would not automatically mean the withdrawal of the 102nd military base from Armenia.

“I do not know whether, if that had not happened, the presence of that military base here would have been necessary for Armenia’s security or not. There is an opinion that, on the contrary, it is a danger. We have such views as well,” he said.

The journalist noted that the basis for the deployment of the Russian military base is the Armenia-Turkey border factor, to which Alen Simonyan responded: “I do not see a threat to Armenia’s sovereignty from Turkey. It is 2026. Today I do not see any threat and, one could say, since August 8 [2025], I do not see any threat at all, and I do not want to link the factor of the military base with Turkey.”

Alen Simonyan once again recalled that the Armenian side has not discussed such an issue, and that it was the Russian side that put the topic of the military base on the agenda.

“After August 8 [2025], in my assessment, the existence of a threat is zero, because despite the existence of the base and despite the presence of Russian peacekeepers, we saw what happened and what the base did when the Russian helicopter was shot down,” he said.

I do not see a threat to Armenia’s sovereignty from Turkey, Alen Simonyan on possible withdrawal of Russian military base