BUSINESSMEN PRESS FOR OPENING OF BORDER AFTER HISTORIC VISIT
Today’s Zaman
Sept 9 2008
Turkey
President Gul (R) and his Armenian counterpart, Sarksyan, had a
1.5-hour meeting in Yerevan on Saturday.
Turkish and Armenian businessmen are hopeful that a historic visit
by President Abdullah Gul to neighboring Armenia last weekend could
bring economic benefits for both countries if the positive political
atmosphere is followed by a reopening of the border, which has been
closed since 1993.
Kaan Soyak, co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development
Council, says Turkish and Armenian businessmen could set up an
industrial zone in Turkey if the border is opened. According to Arsen
Ghazaryan, the Armenian co-chairman of the council, the opening of the
gate will boost tourism revenue for residents of the border provinces
in eastern Turkey.
Turkey closed its border with landlocked Armenia in 1993 in protest of
Armenian occupation of a chunk of Azerbaijani territory in a dispute
over Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara says ties will not be normalized unless
Armenia withdraws from Azerbaijani territory, stops backing its
diaspora’s efforts to win international recognition for claims that
1.5 million Armenians were victims of genocide at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire and formally recognizes the current border with Turkey.
President Gul broke the ice on Saturday when he visited Yerevan,
becoming the first Turkish president to set foot in Armenia since
it declared independence from the Soviet Union, to watch a World
Cup qualifying match between the national soccer teams of the two
countries. Gul said the border issue was not on the agenda of his
meeting with his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Sarksyan, but the
two countries are expected to hold further talks to discuss how to
normalize ties.
"The progress achieved in Gul’s visit should be taken further. We
should take steps to ensure the free movement of goods in the
Caucasus," Soyak told Today’s Zaman. He said a closed railway link
between Turkey and Armenia should be opened immediately, emphasizing
that the railway has the capacity to transfer 10 million tons of
goods annually.
Ghazaryan said textile and tourism were the two sectors
in which Turkish-Armenian business cooperation could start
immediately. "Armenia’s potential is not confined to its population
of 3.5 million. Armenians from all over the world, from Canada to
Brazil, from South Africa to Qatar, come to Armenia every year," he
said. "The immediate effect of the opening of the border gate would
be a boom in tourism in eastern Anatolia because diaspora Armenians
coming to Armenia want to see the Anatolia."
Soyak said approximately 200,000 diaspora Armenians visit Armenia
every year. "These people have roots in Anatolia. If they each stay
for three days in Turkey and spend $100 a day, this would mean $60
million in tourism revenue for eastern Anatolia. It’s not big money
for Ä°stanbul, but hotels in eastern Anatolia will enjoy a boom in
income," Soyak said.
Ghazaryan is also optimistic that Turkish businessmen will be able
to operate freely in Armenia despite concerns over public misgivings
against the Turks. "Turkish businessmen have already been operating
successfully in Armenia for 15 years," he said.
Ghazaryan is also hopeful that Saturday’s soccer game opened a new era
in Turkish-Armenian ties. He said there has been a change of thinking
among Turkish politicians towards Armenia in recent years. "We have
to live together in this region and build a common future," he said.
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Gul to visit Azerbaijan on fence-mending mission after trip to
Yerevan President Abdullah Gul will visit regional ally Azerbaijan
on Wednesday, days after he became the first Turkish president,
since Armenian independence from the USSR, to visit Armenia, which
is currently occupying a part of Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani government has refrained from publicly criticizing
the visit, and Turkish officials said Baku has raised no objection
to Gul’s visit on Saturday. But newspapers and politicians have said
Gul’s visit could undermine the alliance between Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Turkey wants Azerbaijan and Armenia to join a Caucasus Stability
and Cooperation Platform, a scheme it proposed after a brief
Georgian-Russian war last month after Georgia launched a military
offensive into the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Gul will meet
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his one-day visit.
Gul’s visit to Armenia raised the hopes of a breakthrough in relations
between the two estranged neighbors, but the two countries face the
daunting task of normalizing ties despite complicated problems.
Gul is expected to once again meet with his Armenian counterpart,
Serzh Sarksyan, in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly
next month. Foreign Ministers Ali Babacan and Eduard Nalbandian will
also have talks during the UN gathering. Talks between the two sides
on how to normalize ties are expected to gain momentum after the New
York meetings.
Despite Armenian wishes for an immediate opening of the border with
Turkey, closed since 1993, Ankara is cautious, saying progress will
depend on Armenian steps for reconciliation in a territorial dispute
with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara severed its diplomatic
relations and closed the border with Armenia after Azerbaijan occupied
a part of Azerbaijani territory. Ankara Today’s Zaman
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