Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation Pressured From Outside

ARMENIAN-TURKISH RECONCILIATION PRESSURED FROM OUTSIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.08.2009 13:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "In the case of the Armenian-Turkish relations the
external pressure is felt, especially on Turkey, because it was the
first to unilaterally close the border, while Armenia has always
advocated the opening of the border without any preconditions,"
Ruben Melkonyan , turkologist and lecturer of Turkic Chair at the
Yerevan State University, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to him, being a very experienced in diplomacy Turkey is
still successfully maneuvering in the international arena, and it
manages to neutralize the external pressure.

In respect to opening the border, Mr. Melkonyan said that not only
the mood of Armenia’s public must be taken into account, but also the
interests of Diaspora. "In this context, the position of Diaspora is
more rigid than that of the public of Armenia, which has a logical
explanation. The Armenian community, on the contrary, has a very
superficial understanding of Turkey, the Turkish public and the pluses
and minuses of an open border as a whole," Mr. Melkonyan added.

When asked about the possible economic consequences of the open
borders, he stressed, that since the Armenian economy has a very
large agrarian industry, Armenia might not compete with Turkey,
having more developed agricultural production

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS