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Armenia Would Become A Transit Country If Turkey Opens Borders: Expe

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  • Armenia Would Become A Transit Country If Turkey Opens Borders: Expe

    ARMENIA WOULD BECOME A TRANSIT COUNTRY IF TURKEY OPENS BORDERS: EXPERT

    ARKA
    Nov 3, 2009

    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.
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