FRANK ENGEL: IT IS NOT ARMENIA THAT KEEPS THE BORDER CLOSED
PanARMENIAN.Net
19.03.2010 18:34 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ If Turkey is serious about normalizing formal
relations – opening the border, re-establish diplomatic relations –
I don’t see how this process would not be significantly beneficial
to both countries, and their peoples, according to Frank Engel,
a member of the Europe-Armenia Advisory Council.
"There are encouraging signs that relations between Turks and Armenians
don’t have to remain strained forever. The existing transport links,
the presence of a sizeable Armenian community in Turkey, for instance,
tell me that ordinary Turks and Armenians essentially aspire to
normal relations. However, with borders closed and no diplomatic
missions, this aspiration is rather difficult to fulfill. The more
extreme populist stances on both sides don’t help either. Parts of
the Armenian diaspora should start by recognizing this," he told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
Asked whether an Turkey open the border this year, Mr. Engel said,
"Of course it can. This is not a matter of feasibility, but of
willingness to do it. Of course, potent internal Turkish interests
still oppose this move, and as I said, extremist Armenian views are
not helpful at all on the other side. The question is if Turkey wants
to break the deadlock through a powerful gesture. It is not Armenia
that keeps the border closed."