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