Turkey’s eastern frontier with Armenia will eventually reopen for cross-border traffic, according to Turkey’s foreign minister.

“The Turkish foreign minister is sure the border will open sooner or later, so we can come back to Turkey and visit historical sites,” Arthur Ghazaryan of the Union of Manufacturers’ and Businessmen of Armenia told the Hurriyet Daily News following a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Ankara. A five-member Armenian group, including business and nongovernmental leaders, met with Davutoglu and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirliogu to discuss the Turkish-Armenian normalization process and the currently stalled talks on the matter, participants told the Daily News.

“We asked the minister when the process will restart,” said Mikayel Hovhannisyan of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation. “Unfortunately I did not receive any exact date but I received assurance that the Turkish side will implement necessary steps to that end.”

The group told the foreign minister that Armenian society and even the international community were expecting Turkey to move on.

“We said the ball is in Turkey’s court. Armenia is waiting for Turkey to play ball,” said Ghazaryan. “Turkish-Armenian relations are like a train starting to move,” said the Institute for Civil Society and Regional Development’s Aghavni Karakhanian, another Armenian attending the meeting. “There is no reverse we can only go forward. We cannot stop the moving train.”

The Armenians said they were impressed by the open and frank discussions at the ministry. Richard Giragosian of the Regional Studies Center said he was first impressed by the “amount of time” the ministry gave them and the fact the foreign minister was “very forthcoming.” “I was impressed by the quality of Davutoglu and his open and frank exchange with us.”

Genocide issue also discussed during the meeting. The visiting group said there was much more awareness in Turkey now compared to a couple of years ago. Giragosian said he told Davutoglu the mental border was open between the two neighboring countries despite the sealed border – something the foreign minister agreed on, he added.

Representatives of 5 Armenian organisations visited Turkey on the invitation of TEPAV Turkish Economic Policy Research Institute. On the sidelines of the visit, Armenian delegation met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.