Armenian-Turkish rapprochement will contribute to fair
resolution of Karabakh problem and not to the opposite, Tigran
Sargsyan says
17-10-2009 23:00:00 | Armenia | Politics
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 16, NOYAN TAPAN. Both Armenia and Turkey
are interested in the improvement of bilateral relations, and
their interests coincide in this sence, Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan stated during an interview with Armenian television
companies. As a result of Armenian-Turkish rapprochement, the
opportunities of political and economic development are
increasing for the two countries, and "Turkey appears to the
world as a state with a clear strategy of political and economic
reforms, which will become a EU member," the prime minister
said. Armenia is also interested in it because in this case it
will be "in the vicinity" of the European Union. In his words,
"it is important that today the interests of global players
coincide with each other and the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations is in the interests of everybody".
The prime minister expressed confidence that the border
will open sooner or later, however, according to him, "we are
interested that it will happen now, as the improvement of
political ties between Armenia and Turkey will contribute to the
fair resolution of the Karabakh problem and not to the
opposite".
T. Sargsyan called the Armenian president's initiative
aimed at Armenian-Turkish rapprochement a bold step, adding that
the head of the country undertook that step after carefully
preparing for it: he had conducted consultations with Russia,
the U.S, the European Union, some European states, and all the
RA ministries and departments were instructed to work out the
possible scenarios and an action plan in case of the border's
opening and submit them to the government.
On the moral and psychological dimension, Armenia's aim is
to obtain justice, the only way of achieving which is the
recognition of the Genocide by Turkey itself. "In the 21st
century, we must think not only on this dimension, but also on
the political one because we have independent statehood and we
must implement a sound policy aimed at strengthening our state
and ensuring the prosperous life of our citizens," T. Sargsyan
said.
From the economic point of view, the opening of the border
is beneficial to both Armenia and Turkey. Both countries have
adopted a strategy of establishing a market economy, so they
have to remove all the obstacles to the normal development of
the market economy.
The prime minister said Armenia's private sector is better
prepared for the border opening as there have been contacts in
conditions of the closed borders. After the border is open, the
trade with Turkey will be conducted not via Georgia, but
directly, which will result in a 15% fall of transport charges,
creating qualitatively new conditions for importers. The prime
minister assured the reporters that letters have already been
received from Europe: people express their interest and readiness
to invest in infrastructures in case of positive developments.
"Today we have only one way to export and import goods, which is
highly expensive. Georgia takes advantage of that, and the cost
of commodity transportation is unfairly high," the prime
minister noted.
The border's opening and the operation of the railway will
be a hard blow to the monopolies as well. Because of high
transport charges, only big business can engage in export and
import, whereas the open border will create favorable conditions
for small and medium business. The prime minister attached great
importance to the improvement of tax and customs administration
in order to efficiently fight monopolies.