Today’s Zaman, Turkey
May 10 2009
What changes in Kars when Armenian border is opened
Ongoing negotiations between Armenia and Turkey aiming at normalizing
relations and opening the border have brought Kars, an eastern
Anatolian province of Turkey, into the spotlight since the city is
located on the Armenian border.
Between 1991 and 1993, when the Turkish-Armenian border gate was open,
direct trade relations between Kars and Gyumri, an Armenian city on
the Turkish border of Armenia, was one of the main factors that kept
the city’s economy going while it was fighting poverty and high rates
of unemployment. `People are watching the developments on the Armenian
border issue with great excitement; if the border is not opened, it
will certainly lead more people to migrate out of desperation to big
cities like Istanbul and Izmir to work in construction,” said Kaan
Soyak, co-chairman of the Turkish Armenian Business Development
Council (TABDC), speaking to Sunday’s Zaman.
Migration caused by lack of employment is one of the biggest problems
in Kars. According to figures from the Turkish Statistics Institute
(TurkStat), the northeastern part of Turkey, including Kars,
IÄ?dır, Artvin and Bayburt, is where the highest
migration has been observed since 1995. Soyak talked about the trade
there had been between Kars and Armenia; people from Kars brought
cattle by train to sell in Armenia and Armenians sold paper,
commercial timber and coal in Kars when the border gate was open. He
also drew attention to the tourism potential of Kars, stating: `There
are many places in Kars that have historical meaning for
Armenians. Therefore, I would expect an immediate rise in the number
of tourists visiting the city after the border is reopened.” Kafkas
University, which was established in 1992 and currently has 41,000
students, is an important institution in the city.
However, Ali Güvensoy, the chairman of Kars Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, does not agree on the opening of the border unless the
concerns over Azerbaijan are satisfied. `We are one nation and two
states; the Azerbaijanis are our brothers. If Armenia does not end the
occupation in Nagorno-Karabakh we should not open the border.”
Drawing attention to the trade routes passing through Georgia to
Armenia, causing a rise in transportation costs, Güvensoy said,
`If the border is opened, Armenia benefits more than Turkey, so
Armenia should make more concessions than Turkey.”
He does not think Kars would experience a drastic change in commerce
when the border is opened. `Kars would not get much more trade than
other border cities trading with neighboring countries; of course we
do not object to the new border-opening initiative but I do not
predict a remarkable change in the city’s economy,” said
Güvensoy.
10 May 2009, Sunday
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