TURKEY WON’T OPEN BORDER IN NEAR FUTURE, SAYS BAGRATIAN

Aysor
March 19 2010
Armenia

Former prime-minister of Armenia, chairman of the Liberty Party
Hrant Bagratian said that Turkey will not open its border with
Armenia in the near future, and the reasons are neither Azerbaijan
nor Nagorno-Karabakh, the reason is a fear of communication links
between Armenia and Eastern Turkey (historical Armenia).

"If they even open the border, they will prevent active trade
relations," he said at today’s press conference.

He said Armenia will influence Eastern Turkish regions, populated
with 11 million Muslims and where seriously exists the Kurdish factor.

"If the border opens, we will have $1 billion turnover with Turkey,
not current $150 million, and the prices will drop," said politician.

Hrant Bagratian also said of number of Armenians, entering Turkey.

Recently Erdogan said there are 100,000 undocumented Armenians in
Turkey, while this is not a real figure, as in fact there are much more
less Armenians in Turkey. According to Turkey’s National Statistics
Center, 26,000 Armenians enter Turkey; however, there are not
registered numbers of Armenians, who enter Turkey from other countries.