As we will no doubt be aware, the government in Ankara is launching a legal challenge to Israel's blockade of Gaza imposed in response to missile attacks by militants in that territory. Unfortunately for Turkey, this has had the effect of highlighting that it has itself for almost two decades been blockading a neighbouring country which has never committed an act of aggression against it: Armenia.

The blockade goes back to the late 1980s and early 1990s when Armenian fighters intervened to assist the Armenian majority republic of Nagorno-Karabakh which had declared independence from neighbouring Azerbaijan. Turkey, feeling the need to assist its ethnic cousins, the Azeris, closed the border with Armenia. Lately, despite some rapprochement between Yerevan and Ankara, Armenian-Turkish relations remain difficult and the two countries have no diplomatic ties.

The blockade (allied with one imposed by Azerbaijan) has had a devastating effect on the Armenian economy because of the country's dependence on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials. Compounding this is the fact that road and/or rail through Georgia and Iran are inadequate or unreliable. The country endured several years of freezing winters before the government decided in 1995 to reopen an ageing nuclear reactor at Metsamor - this in an area that is prone to earthquakes. In 1988, Armenia had been hit by one such earthquake and the subsequent blockade caused unimaginable hardship for the victims.

Recent statements from Armenia note that Turkey is still showing no signs of lifting the blockade.

So, as Turkey launches a high profile and high stakes challenge to Israel's blockade of Gaza, many people are wondering about the legality of its blockade on Armenia - and the hypocrisy.

Sources:
1. Turkey launches international legal challenge to Gaza blockade · TheJournal
2. Energy-starved Armenians risk a new Chernobyl - World, News - The Independent
3. Armenian Assembly statement on Turkish Government?s announcement - Politics - Panorama | Armenian news
4. Sarkisian complains about ‘Turkish blockade’ - Hurriyet Daily News
5. Armenia in 2010 - A Year of Uncertainty
6. Blockade of Armenia hinders development of border areas in Turkey | Armenia News - NEWS.am
7. Turkey rebukes Israel: do they remember Northern Cyprus and the Kurds?