ANCA: NO NEW TRADE DEALS WHILE TURKEY BLOCKADES ARMENIA, OCCUPIES CYPRUS
Thursday, May 30th, 2013
ANCA’s Kate Nahapetian testifies
ANCA’s Nahapetian Calls for U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement and Double Tax Treaty during Testimony before U.S.
Trade Panel
WASHINGTON-During testimony earlier today before the U.S. Trade Policy
Staff Committee, Armenian National Committee of America Government
Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian called upon the U.S. government
to condition Turkey’s participation in any new Transatlantic trade
initiatives upon Ankara’s immediate lifting its blockade of Armenia
and ending its occupation of Cyprus.
Nahapetian offered the ANCA’s testimony during the first of two-days
of public hearings regarding the proposed Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP). The hearing was chaired by Doug Bell,
who heads the TPSC, and included the participation of representative
from a broad range of U.S. agencies including the Departments of
Treasury, State, Commerce, Transportation, and Health and Human
Services.
“Turkey’s blockade of Armenia, a landlocked nation, which has been in
force for more than two decades and prevents an important East-West
trade route, is among the longest-standing in modern history,”
explained Nahapetian. “This blockade is all the more objectionable,
since Turkey’s act of economic aggression is targeted against the very
Armenian people that Turkey’s predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire,
attempted to exterminate during the Armenian Genocide.”
Nahapetian went on to point out that, “We are particularly concerned
about Turkey’s unwillingness to comply with previous trade agreements.
Since its 2005 Customs Union Agreement with the European Union, Turkey
has refused to implement the requirements of beginning to normalize
relations with the Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member, and
opening its ports and airports to Cyprus. Turkey must demonstrate
that it no longer flagrantly violates trade obligations before being
granted any preferential treatment under the Transatlatic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP).” The complete text of Nahapetian’s
testimony is provided below.
During a question and answer session with TPSC Chairman Doug Bell
and U.S. Assistant Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle
East Dan Mullaney, Nahapetian discussed the ANCA’s commitment to the
expansion of the U.S.-Armenia trade relationship, focusing specifically
on the benefits to bilateral commerce that could be realized through
the negotiation of a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty and a Trade and
Investment Framework Agreement.
The Turkish government, has, in recent months, lobbied Washington
aggressively for inclusion in a proposed far-ranging Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership between the U.S. and the European
Union, as well as for its own U.S.-Turkey bilateral free trade
agreement. The ANCA, along with the American Hellenic Institute (AHI)
and the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), has submitted a
joint written statement to the USTPSC encouraging the U.S. government
to require, as a pre-condition for any new trade deals involving
Turkey, that Ankara have fully withdrawn its military occupation
of Cyprus, unconditionally lifted its illegal economic blockade of
Armenia, and ended all obstacles to trade, investment, and other
forms of commerce it has imposed upon Cyprus and Armenia.
Also offering testimony will be a broad range of corporate, labor,
citizens, and trade associations, including U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
AFL-CIO, American Insurance Association, Securities Industry
and Financial Markets Association, Software Information Industry
Association, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Public Citizen,
U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumer Federation of America,
Underwriters Laboratories, Biotechnology Industry Organization,
Transatlantic Business Council, American Association of Exporters and
Importers, American Apparel and Footwear Association, and American
Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.
Armenian National Committee of America Testimony at Hearing
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Public Hearing
Docket Number USTR-2013-0019 May 29, 2013 Washington, DC
Hello, my name is Kate Nahapetian and I am Government Affairs Director
for the Armenian National Committee of America, the largest Armenian
American advocacy group.
We welcome the opportunity to share our views regarding U.S.
negotiating priorities and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union.
I will summarize the concerns we outlined in our joint statement with
the American Hellenic Institute and the Hellenic American Leadership
Council, leading organizations of the Greek American community.
Our concerns relate primarily to the Turkish government’s stated
interest in joining this agreement, although Turkey is not a European
Union member, as well as public comments by Turkish leaders and others
regarding a possible U.S.-Turkey Free Trade Agreement. Although the
President’s notice to Congress of his intention to negotiate this
agreement made it clear that the agreement would be between the United
States and the European Union and inclusion of Turkey in this process
would require additional notice to Congress, we wanted to share our
concerns nevertheless.
In the course of any talks or negotiations related to such agreements,
we call on the President to be guided by the Trade Act of 1974 which
affirms our nation’s commitment “to establish fairness and equity in
international trading relations,” a principle that the government of
Turkey regularly violates.
More specifically, we call upon to the Obama Administration to ensure
that the TTIP, related agreements, and any bilateral agreements that
may directly or indirectly involve the Republic of Turkey require, as a
statutory precondition, that the Turkish government 1) unconditionally
lift its illegal economic blockade of Armenia, 2) fully withdraw its
unlawful and brutal military occupation of Cyprus, an EU member, and 3)
immediately end all obstacles to trade, investment, and other forms
of commerce it currently imposes on Cyprus and Armenia. The blockade
of Armenia, a landlocked nation, which has been in force for more than
two decades and prevents an important East-West trade route, is among
the longest-standing in modern history. This blockade is all the more
objectionable, since Turkey’s act of economic aggression is targeted
against the very Armenian people that Turkey’s predecessor state, the
Ottoman Empire, attempted to exterminate during the Armenian Genocide.
Within days of signing an agreement in October 2009 to end its blockade
of Armenia regardless of any progress on the Nagorno Karabakh peace
process, Turkey reneged on the agreement and insisted that it would
not end its blockade until the Nagorno Karabakh conflict was resolved
in Azerbaijan’s favor.
The World Bank, U.S. State Department, and European Parliament reports
have all outlined the devastating impact of Turkey’s blockade against
Armenia, which has been in place for over a decade.
The traditional railroad linking Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan
could be operational within days, but instead of allowing this rail
system to run, Turkey is financing the construction of an entirely
new railroad system that would circumvent Armenia and traverse Georgia
to reach Azerbaijan at a cost of over $600 million.
In yet another example of Turkey’s efforts to hamper rather than
promote free trade, Turkey invoked the rarely used Article XIII of
the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO, when Armenia joined the
WTO in 2002, meaning that it would not abide by any WTO obligations
as they apply to Armenia. Article XIII has been invoked only eight
times and only three are still maintained, one of them being Turkey’s
invocation against Armenia.
We are particularly concerned about Turkey’s unwillingness to
comply with previous trade agreements. Since its 2005 Customs Union
Agreement with the European Union, Turkey has refused to implement the
requirements of beginning to normalize relations with the Republic of
Cyprus, a European Union member, and opening its ports and airports to
Cyprus. Turkey must demonstrate that it no longer flagrantly violates
trade obligations before being granted any preferential treatment
under TTIP.
The implementation of any provision of such agreements related to
Turkey should be conditional upon official annual certification by the
President and subsequent confirmation by the Congress that Turkey has,
over the past twelve months, fully complied with these conditions.
These requirements, if enforced, will support and strengthen U.S.
leadership in promoting a multilateral rule-of-law based trading
system, and, more broadly, in encouraging compliance by Turkey and
other countries with international agreements to promote trade.
We welcome, as a general principle, the U.S. Trade Representative’s
commitment to the expansion of U.S. trade and investment based on
“fairness and equity in international trading relations” that require
respect for the rule of law. We hold, however, that, in the case
of Turkey, we would not advance our national interests, further our
economic prosperity, or promote our core values by rewarding a nation
that so egregiously and flagrantly undermines the integrity of the
global trading system by occupying a European Union member state and
refusing to end its two decade blockade of landlocked Armenia.
Moreover, any inclusion of Turkey in an already complex process
involving multiple European Union member states would create serious
complications and disruptions to the process.
We would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Trade Policy Staff
Committee to discuss our priorities and proposals on this matter in
greater detail.
http://asbarez.com/110332/anca-no-new-trade-deals-while-turkey-blockades-armenia-occupies-cyprus/