ArmenPress
July 26 2005

ARMENIA WILL NOT BENEFIT FROM OPEN BORDER WITH TURKEY, ARF MEMBER
SAYS

YEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS: A senior member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation echoed today findings of a study conducted
by the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center (AEPLAC), a
research center funded by the European Union that concluded that an
open border with Turkey would do little to give a strong push to
Armenia’s economic development. Deputy parliament chairman Vahan
Hovhanesian told participants of the third Armenian youth forum that
sooner or later Ankara would have to open the border, as it cannot
join the EU with a closed border with one of its neighbors.
The AEPLAC findings run counter to the opinion of Western donors
and some members of the Armenian government who say that an open
border would help restore the Turkish-Armenian rail link and give
Armenia alternative routs to take its products to other markets.
Currently over 90 percent of Armenia’s external trade is carried out
through Georgian territory.
AEPLAC findings also contrast the World Bank economists, who say
the reopening would dramatically accelerate Armenia’s economic
growth. Talking to young Armenians from several countries,
Hovhanesian said Armenia should work hard to persuade the EU to force
Turkey to open the border when negotiating Turkey’s EU membership.
“The border has never been closed from the Armenian side and it
is Turkey that has to lift its transport blockade of Armenia, but
Armenia cannot agree to Ankara’s demands to pull out troops from
Karabakh as a precondition for starting normalization of relations,”
he said adding that Armenian forces of Karabakh are its Armenian
population. He said Armenia cannot either give up its campaign of the
genocide recognition. Citing the recent Venezuela’s parliament
resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, he said the process
goes on without Armenia’s participation.