Turkish businessmen invite Armenian counterparts to Istanbul

Saturday, October 28, 2006
Turkish Daily News
SELMA ŞİMŞEK BEKTAŞ
ISTANBUL

Following the approval of a bill on Oct. 12 in the lower house of the French parliament to criminalize denial of an alleged Armenian genocide, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (TÜSİAD) invited Armenian businessmen to Istanbul.

This may be the way to overcome the differences. But with the Turkish-Armenian borders closed for commerce by Turkey, and the diversion of the rail connection to Georgia and Azerbaijan from passing through Armenia, what business will the Armenian and Turkish industrialist discuss? The author is attempting to give credit to Turkey on an empty gesture.

The TÜSİAD-led Union of Black Sea and Caspian Confederation of Enterprises (UBCCE) will hold its first general assembly on Nov. 27 to which executives from the Armenian Industrialists and Businessmen's Association have been invited.

TÜSİAD President Ömer Sabancı initiated the establishment of the union with the aim of developing economic and commercial relations among neighboring Black Sea and Caspian countries. A decision was made at preparatory meetings in May and June of this year to locate the headquarters of the 12-member UBCCE in Istanbul.

The union was formed with the participation of several TÜSİAD counterparts from member countries. Armenia became a member of the union with the Armenian Industrialists and Businessmen's Association.

The UBCCE general assembly will be held at Istanbul's Sail Halim Paşa Yalısı on Nov. 27, at which Armenia will be represented by Arsen Gazeryan, head of the Armenian Industrialists and Businessmen's Association and also co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Council.

Continuous contact:

TÜSİAD's Brussels representative, Bahadır Kaleağası, said the UBCCE was formed after intensive studies around the Black Sea and Caspian region. “The preparatory meetings of the confederation have been completed. Armenia is a member of the union, and they have been invited,” he said.

Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council deputy head Noyan Soyak said TÜSİAD and the Turkish-Armenian Business Council had been exchanging views since 2000. Gazeryan served as a bridge between the business worlds of the two countries, both in his capacity as head of the Armenian association and as co-chairman of the council, he noted, adding that Gazeryan and TÜSİAD were in constant contact with each other.

“Armenian businessmen are informed of every development in TÜSİAD. When Sabancı was elected president, Armenian businessmen congratulated him. We, as the council, also organize meetings where Turkish and Armenian businesspeople come together,” said.

The meeting in November aims to develop Turkey's relations with its neighbors, Soyak said. “Armenia is invited within this context. We see this as the continuation of previous meetings. In the upcoming meeting, the launching of bilateral talks between the two countries may come up,” he said.

Karen Mirzoyan, Armenia permanent representative at the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) said the new union was not directly related to BSEC but that members of BSEC were also members of the union. "As a matter of fact, all of our members have been invited to this meeting. I know about the preparatory meetings. The real union will be formed at the November meeting,” said Mirzoyan.

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.