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WILL THE ARMENIAN BORDER BE OPENED?
By Ismet Berkan
Turkish Press
April 9 2009
RADIKAL - The land border between Turkey and Armenia was closed
shortly after Armenia became an independent country. Turkey closed
the border out of solidarity with Azerbaijan, because Armenia invaded
Azeri territory in the war which broke out over Nagorno-Karabakh. In
addition, Turkey did this to force Armenia to make peace between
the two countries. But as everybody knows, there are still regular
flights between Turkey and Armenia, and I think they're always full.
The people living in and around Kars suffer the greatest loss
in Turkey due to this closed border, because border trade is
prohibited. Land-locked Armenia has also been seriously suffered by the
embargo it faced after the war (mostly the Turkish embargo). Armenia
became poor after it gained its independence, its economy growing
weaker as its people fled the country to wherever they could, including
Turkey, to find their future. The reasons for this aren't limited to
the closed Turkish border or Turkey's indirect trade embargo.
Armenia, like Georgia, is poor because it preferred to remain Eastern
instead of trying to become Western. This preference started with the
war against Armenia and continued and is still continuing after it
agreed to go under Russia's wing. But it could have taken a completely
different path - for example, it could have solved the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue by talking to Azerbaijan and mutual territorial exchanges, and it
could have been integrated into the Western world via Turkey. Instead
of doing this, it chose to focus on its national pride; and instead
of being pragmatic, it chose to seek revenge for the past. This was
entirely their choice.
By Ismet Berkan
Turkish Press
April 9 2009
RADIKAL - The land border between Turkey and Armenia was closed
shortly after Armenia became an independent country. Turkey closed
the border out of solidarity with Azerbaijan, because Armenia invaded
Azeri territory in the war which broke out over Nagorno-Karabakh. In
addition, Turkey did this to force Armenia to make peace between
the two countries. But as everybody knows, there are still regular
flights between Turkey and Armenia, and I think they're always full.
The people living in and around Kars suffer the greatest loss
in Turkey due to this closed border, because border trade is
prohibited. Land-locked Armenia has also been seriously suffered by the
embargo it faced after the war (mostly the Turkish embargo). Armenia
became poor after it gained its independence, its economy growing
weaker as its people fled the country to wherever they could, including
Turkey, to find their future. The reasons for this aren't limited to
the closed Turkish border or Turkey's indirect trade embargo.
Armenia, like Georgia, is poor because it preferred to remain Eastern
instead of trying to become Western. This preference started with the
war against Armenia and continued and is still continuing after it
agreed to go under Russia's wing. But it could have taken a completely
different path - for example, it could have solved the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue by talking to Azerbaijan and mutual territorial exchanges, and it
could have been integrated into the Western world via Turkey. Instead
of doing this, it chose to focus on its national pride; and instead
of being pragmatic, it chose to seek revenge for the past. This was
entirely their choice.