PanARMENIAN.Net

Turk-Armenian Business Council not permitted to open
branch in Istanbul
08.05.2008 17:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Turkish-Armenian business
organization is not permitted to open a branch in
Istanbul, in total contrast to the government’s
willingness to restart political dialogue with
Armenia.

While political leaders of both Turkey and Armenia
debate ways to "open dialogue," an effort by a
Brussels-based association of Turkish and Armenian
businessmen has been told that even an Istanbul office
for the nongovernmental organization is off the table.

The request began with Brussels-based Turkish-Armenian
Business Development Council’s request last year to
establish an office in Istanbul. But the request was
quietly rejected by the Interior Ministry in February,
the Turkish Daily News reports.

Kaan Soyak, co-chairman of the Council, confirmed that
four Turkish members of the organization including
himself applied last May to open the office supposed
to connect the Turkey-EU network in order to foster
business opportunities.

"We have received no response for nine months and in
February, the Istanbul Governor’s Office sent a letter
rejecting our request without any justification,"
Soyak said.

Until February, he continued, Turkish and Armenian
members of the Council had the impression that the
Interior Ministry would allow the opening of the
office because at round-table discussions in the
United States last November, Turkish diplomats
heralded the government’s plans to allow the office.
However, the letter from the Istanbul Governor’s
Office was in total contrast to expectations.

The government’s rejection comes right after calls for
dialogue with Armenia in the wake of the elections, a
development that raised hopes for the opening of a new
chapter in troubled relations.

The Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council is a
nongovernmental network of Turkish and Armenian
business leaders working since 1997 for the
restoration of normal relations between Turkey and
Armenia and for the reopening of their common border.

The two neighbors have had no diplomatic links after
Turkey took Azerbaijan’s side in the Karabakh war and
closed the border with Armenia. Ankara also opposes
demands for recognition of the Armenian Genocide.