Businessmen press for opening of border after historic visit

Businessmen press for opening of border after historic visit

Turkish and Armenian businessmen are hopeful that a historic visit by President Abdullah Gül 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 Gül 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. Gül 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 Gül’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 İstanbul, 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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Gül to visit Azerbaijan on fence-mending mission after trip to Yerevan
President Abdullah Gül 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 Gül’s visit on Saturday. But newspapers and politicians have said Gül’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. Gül will meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during his one-day visit.

Gül’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.

Gül 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.