Istanbul - (AFP) - A crossing between Armenia and Turkey has opened for the first time in 35 years in order to allow the passage of humanitarian aid after the earthquake that hit the region, the official Turkish Anadolu Agency reported Saturday.

The agency said that five trucks loaded with aid for the victims of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday crossed the Alikan crossing in Igdir province.

The Anadolu Agency quoted a tweet by Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan, in which he said, "The humanitarian aid sent by Armenia has crossed the Margara Bridge on the border between Armenia and Turkey and is on its way to the earthquake-affected areas."

According to the Turkish agency, this crossing was specially opened in 1988 to send aid to Armenia, which was hit by an earthquake that hit its capital, Yerevan, and the number of victims ranged between 25,000 and 30,000 dead.

Tension prevails between the two countries due to Ankara's refusal to recognize the massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide.

Tensions escalated due to the military conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan last year over Nagorno-Karabakh.

However, in December 2021, the two countries appointed special envoys to represent each other in the other country, and they met several times in Vienna to discuss the normalization of relations between them.

Commercial flights between them also resumed in February 2022.