Turkey Moves Forward With Rebuilding 1,000-Year-Old Bridge at Ani, Linking Historic Western Armenian Lands to Armenia

Turkey has completed the tender process to rebuild the 10th-century Ani Bridge on its border with Armenia, moving forward with a joint restoration project as the two countries work to normalize relations.

Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the reconstruction contract was signed September 28, according to Türkiye Today. The project will be carried out under the supervision of a joint Armenian-Turkish commission.

The medieval stone bridge once crossed the Akhuryan River, connecting the two sides of a major Silk Road trade route. Today, only remnants of its original supports remain.

The project follows an agreement signed May 4 in Yerevan by Armenia’s special envoy for normalization talks, Ruben Rubinyan, and his Turkish counterpart, Serdar Kilic. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz attended the signing.

Turkey’s General Directorate of Highways opened the restoration tender September 16. Uraloglu said the reconstruction is intended to preserve the bridge’s historical significance and pass an important part of the Silk Road’s heritage to future generations.

The bridge stands near Ani, the former capital of the medieval Armenian Bagratid kingdom. Once a major center of trade and culture, the city is now an archaeological site in eastern Turkey, overlooking the Armenian border. UNESCO added Ani to its World Heritage List in 2016.

The restoration is among the latest concrete steps in the normalization process between Armenia and Turkey. The two countries have held talks and reached several agreements in recent years, but their land border remains closed to regular traffic, and they have yet to establish full diplomatic relations.

Neither a construction timeline nor a budget for the bridge’s reconstruction has been announced.

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