ARMENIA IS READY TO OPEN ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER BUT OFFICIAL ANKARA’S POSITION WILL NOT YET ADMIT THIS:
ARMENIAN MINISTER OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Oct 31 2006

Armenia is ready to open the Armenian-Turkish border without any
preliminary conditions, however, official Ankara’s position will not
yet admit this, said Karen Chshmarityan, the Armenian co-chairman
of the Committee for Armenia-EU Cooperation, the Minister of Trade
and Economic Development, at today’s press-conference devoted to the
results of the seventh session of the Committee held in Brussels on
October 25.

According to him, during the session, the Armenian side presented
its approaches to this problem which were taken by the Europeans into
consideration. Particularly, the Armenian delegation appealed to the
EU to pay special attention to this issue, as Chshmarityan considers
that the regional cooperation under conditions of the closed border
acquires virtual importance.

To note, the Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1992.

Official Ankara links its unblocking to the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to the renunciation of the territorial
claims on Turkey. Nevertheless, the annual commodity turnover between
the two states, with due regard for reexport and reimport, makes up
about $100 mln, according to non-official data.