| Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian offered Armenia’s assistance in promoting trade links between Armenian and Turkish businesses. Meeting with co-chairmen of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council, Arsen Ghazarian and Kaan Soyak late last week, Oskanian praised the organization for its activities. Even though Turkey has prohibited its major companies from trading with Armenia and blockaded its border with Armenia since 1993, some trade between the two countries continues to take place via other neighboring states. That trade reportedly amounted to several hundred million dollars in the last several years. As of last year, 25 Turkish companies were active in Armenia.
During the meeting, Oskanian also said that Armenia was interested in Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem’s proposal to hold a trilateral meeting with Azerbaijan. The move came after Turkish officials clarified their offer as not restricted to a discussion of the Karabagh conflict. Armenia earlier reiterated its long-held view that Turkey cannot be a mediator in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan due to its established policy of favoring Azerbaijan.
The United States continues to encourage normalization of Armenian-Turkish ties. This week, the US Embassy in Armenia organized a visit by a group of Armenian businessmen to Turkey to explore ways for development of economic relations.
News Source: AIM – Mar 3-10, 2001 |
Akgün Medya