Armenia would become a transit country if Turkey opens borders: expert
YEREVAN, November 3, /ARKA/. A prominent Armenian expert in Turkish studies defended last Friday president Serzh Sargsyan’s drive to improve relations with Turkey saying Armenia would become a transit country if Turkey opens the border.
After months of secret diplomacy, Armenia and Turkey took a significant step on October 10 as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan signed protocols in Zurich to establish diplomatic relations and develop bilateral contacts. Both countries should have the protocols ratified in their parliaments within a `reasonable time frame.'
Speaking at a news conference Ruben Sarfrastian, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, an affiliation of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, said in terms of geopolitical location Armenia is in the center of the South Caucasus and in this sense it can be compared to Germany in West Europe.
“This is why any regional project will have to traverse Armenia and once the border is open Armenia will get a third conduit to the other world and its potential of a regional center will only increase,’ he said.
According to him, although it is still early to talk about concrete projects, but Russia has showed its interest in the soonest opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, which he said is an indication of its far-reaching goals.
“Armenian-Turkish relations have not only political but also economic impact on Turkish -Azerbaijani relations. This is something new and very soon, more exactly, after a new round of Turkish-Azerbaijani talks on the price of gas Azerbaijan ships to Turkey, it will be clear whether we should expect Azerbaijan’s tough response to Turkish move to improve relations with Armenia,’ he said, adding that Turkey will lose interest towards normalization of relations with Armenia once the United States lessens its pressure on Ankara.
The two countries have no diplomatic ties, the border is closed by Turkey since 1993 and there is a history of animosity that stems from the mass killing of Armenians in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. -0-
