U.S. To Again Press For Turkish-Armenian Rapprochement

24 October 2007
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia

By Emil Danielyan

The United States hopes to defuse the latest surge in Turkish-Armenian tensions and will make a fresh attempt to help normalize Turkey’s strained relationship with Armenia, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said the controversy surrounding the possible passage of a U.S. Congressional resolution recognizing as genocide the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey underscores the need for the two neighboring states to have diplomatic relations and an open border.

“This incident has demonstrated in America, Armenia and Turkey how important it is that there be a serious initiative to fully normalize Armenian-Turkish relations,” he told RFE/RL in Yerevan.

Bryza, who was visiting the Armenian capital in his capacity as the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said he will travel to Ankara on Thursday to discuss the matter with Turkish leaders on the margins of a Black Sea economic forum. “One of my own main goals is to explore the possibility of rejuvenating efforts to bring the countries together,” he said.

“The resolution will either pass or won’t pass. Either way, there is still going to be this problem out there that he is behind the whole controversy over the resolution. We have to get the two sides together,” he added.

Official Ankara has reacted furiously to the draft resolution’s approval by a key House of Representatives committee earlier this month, warning that its passage by the full chamber would not only damage U.S.-Turkish ties but have negative consequences for Armenia. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated on October 16 that his government would be even more unwilling to unconditionally normalize ties with Yerevan.

"Those who expect openings from Turkey will be left alone with their problems," Erdogan said. "They will have to pay the cost of their hostility towards an important country like Turkey."

"I don't understand what the Turks are saying," Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian told the Associated Press news agency in Washington on Tuesday. "We have no relations now. We cannot harm something that is non existent."

While reaffirming Yerevan’s support for the House bill, Sarkisian stressed that his country does not view genocide recognition as a precondition for improving relations with Turkey.

Successive Turkish governments have made the reopening of the Turkish-Armenian border and establishment of diplomatic relations conditional on a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and a halt to the decades-long campaign for international recognition of the Armenian genocide. The U.S. has for years tried unsuccessfully get them to drop those preconditions. It has also urged Armenia to explicitly rule out territorial claims to Turkey.

In Bryza’s words, many officials in Ankara now recognize the need to reconsider Turkey’s policy towards Armenia. “It is outrageous that the [Turkish-Armenian] border is closed,” the official said. “I think that there are a lot of people in the upper reaches of the Turkish government who recognize that an open border would change the strategic map here in a very positive way. I hope that we can convince everybody in the region, including in Azerbaijan, that that’s indeed the case.”

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.

Opening of border key to developing ties

Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Turkish Daily News
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

Cooperation between the Arı Movement and the Armenian International Policy Research Group (AIPRG) showed signs of improvement at a meeting called “The opening of the Turkey-Armenia border” held in Istanbul's Bilgi University Dolapdere campus yesterday.

In an exclusive interview with the Turkish Daily News, AIPRG Representative Tigran Mkrtchyan said Turkey will gain prestige in the international arena if the borders between the countries are opened.

The Arı Movement is a think tank that aims at promoting Turkey's relations with the EU and the Western world in general. The AIPRG is an Armenian think tank dealing with issues relevant to Armenia and its Diaspora.

Mkrtchyan said that even though Armenia offered to open the borders without any prerequisites, Turkey brought forth the Karabagh and the “genocide” issues as prerequisites. He added that the attitude of the Armenian Diaspora should not affect the relationship between the two countries as Armenia is an independent state and its policy does not depend on the Diaspora. Mkrtchyan said the fact that there have been open and frank questions about the “genocide” during the meeting is a positive development.

The fact that there was no Armenian flag in the meeting, even though the Turkish flag and the Arı Movement flags were present, drew reaction from the AIPRG members. Mkrtchyan said the next meeting – in Ankara, on Sept. 20 – might be canceled if the Armenian flag is not present.



'Diaspora does not affect Armenian policy':

The international press was also drawn to the meeting that took place in Bilgi University's Dolapdere campus. Even though it was specified before the meeting that the AIPRG committee was not a political entity, questions asked were generally focused on the events of 1915, the Karabagh issue, and the attitude of the Armenian Diaspora.

“Even though our subject was economic relations, 90 percent of the questions were about ‘genocide' and the Karabagh issue. When the subject is Turkey and Armenia, the focus moves to these subjects regardless of the agenda," said Mkrtchyan. "But we are not politicians. We are here to discuss economic relations.”

Describing the fact that there were direct questions about the 1915 events during the meeting as a positive development, Mkrtchyan said that even the Turkish committees visiting Armenia generally abstained from expressions on the subject.

Noting that the Armenian economy has advanced in recent years, Mkrtchyan said Turkish and Armenian businessmen could trade freely if the borders between the two countries were opened. Regarding the Mezamor Nuclear Plant near the border with Turkey that has become a constant subject of debate, he said the plant was significant in Armenia's economical development, but that new alternatives could be considered if necessary.

Saying that Turkey-Armenia relations should not be affected because of the Armenian Diaspora's attitude, Mkrtchyan emphasized that independent Armenia had its own policy. He ended his speech by saying that he was optimistic about the opening of the borders between the two countries.

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.

Kocharian-Aliyev meeting if successful will force Turkey to open its border with Armenia

01.06.2007
PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are due to meet in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 9 to talk on the basic principles of the settlement on Nagorno Karabakh, which if successful will force Turkey to open its border with Armenia, said Omer Luthem, retired ambassador and chairman of the institute for Armenian research at ASAM.

However, settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is not enough for it, according to him.

The settlement may help normalization but this would not be sufficient in itself. Turkey additionally insists on Armenia giving up claims of the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish diplomat said.

If they agree on the settlement, then Turkey has to give an “award” by opening its border which was closed in 1993, Omer Luthem said. A peaceful solution to Nagorno Karabakh is one of the preconditions set by Ankara for establishing diplomatic relations with Yerevan, he added.

If the two leaders can agree on the status of Nagorno Karabakh, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from seven nearby regions around Nagorno Karabakh is expected to be resolved easily, Omer Luthem said.

However diplomatic sources based in Ankara do not expect a swift solution pointing to other problems such as the timing of withdrawal of Armenian forces from seven regions, the corridor problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the timing of the referendum and the return of refugees and so on, the Turkish Daily News says.

! Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited without reference to «PanARMENIAN.Net».

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Clash of civilisations

May 17th 2007 | KARS
The Economist

Beleaguered Armenians in Turkey—and a closed border with Armenia

FOR a seasoned diplomat, Hasan Sultanoglu Zeynalov, Azerbaijan's consul-general in Kars, eastern Turkey, is unusually indiscreet. He openly complains about Naif Alibeyoglu, the mayor, who is promoting dialogue between Turkey, Azerbaijan and their common enemy, Armenia, just over the border. “I don't believe in dialogue,” Mr Zeynalov snorts. He recently ordered his compatriots to boycott an arts festival organised by the mayor after finding that “there were Armenians too.” Like his masters in Baku, Mr Zeynalov is unnerved at the thought of his country's biggest regional ally suddenly making peace with Armenia.

He will have been cheered by the victory of Serzh Sarkisian, Armenia's nationalist prime minister, in a general election on May 12th. Mr Sarkisian is said to have engineered a last-minute ban on Turkish observers of the election. “I think it would be unnatural to receive observing representatives from a country that does not even wish to have a civilised official dialogue,” he commented.

Mr Sarkisian's hawkish views are echoed by Robert Kocharian, the Armenian president, whom he is tipped to succeed in a presidential election next year. Both men hail from Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous enclave wrested by the Armenians from Azerbaijan in a vicious war in the early 1990s. This prompted Turkey to seal its border (but not air links) with Armenia in 1993. The effect on Kars's economy has been disastrous, which is why Mr Alibeyoglu is so keen to reopen the border.

Ethnic Azeris, who make up a third of his city's 80,000 residents, are less enthusiastic. They are likely to vote in droves for the far-right MHP party in Turkey's parliamentary election on July 22nd. The party's fortunes have risen on a tide of xenophobic nationalism that has engulfed Turkey. Dismissing opinion polls that give Mr Alibeyoglu's AK party a big lead over its rivals, Oktay Aktas, the local MHP boss, confidently predicts victory. He would like Turkey to invade northern Iraq and to hang the Kurdish PKK rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan. He also says there is no question of easing the blockade on Armenia—certainly not until it stops referring to his region as western Armenia and calling the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians in 1915 a genocide.

The sensitiveness of the genocide issue was reflected in January in the killing of Hrant Dink, an ethnic-Armenian newspaper editor in Istanbul, who had talked openly about it. The killer was a school dropout from the port of Trabzon. Mr Dink's lawyer, Ergin Cinmen, says there is compelling evidence that the Istanbul police were given warning of a planned attack at least a year ago, but they did nothing to protect Mr Dink. This week Istanbul's Armenians were shocked once again by a letter sent from Trabzon warning them to defend Turkey against the genocide claims or “face the consequences”. It was delivered to an Armenian primary school.

Such threats have dispelled the surge of goodwill that followed a huge turnout at Mr Dink's funeral and the reopening in March of an old Armenian church restored by Turkey's AK government. Etyen Mahcupyan, who replaced Mr Dink at his newspaper, says some of his kin are now talking of leaving Turkey for good. The border may stay closed for many more years.

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.

RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SHOULD NOT BE PRECONDITION FOR OPENING ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER

YEREVAN, April 16. /ARKA/. The recognition of the Armenian Genocide should not be a precondition for opening the Armenian-Turkish border, the Chairman of Christian-Democratic Union of Armenia (CDUA) Khosrov Harutiunian told a press-conference. According to him, the genocide problem should not impede establishment of diplomatic relations with Turkey.

"Armenian-Turkish relations have a strategic orientation: opening the Armenian-Turkish border not only opens up economic opportunities to us, but creates a real chance for global integration," Harutiunian said.

According to Harutiunian, after the border is opened, Armenia will become a renewed country and will be perceived in the world differently.

Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations and the Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 initiated by official Ankara.

Turkey puts a number of preconditions for establishing bilateral relations, particularly Armenia's resignation of the policy of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire and concessions on Karabakh issue.

According to international experts, as a result of the Turkey's blockade against Armenia, the Armenian economy suffers $500 mln damage every year. N.V. -0--

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Not dead yet

Nov 16th 2006
From The Economist print edition

Turkey's Armenian population is growing

IN THE grimy alleys of Istanbul's Kumkapi district the air is thick with a rarely heard language: Armenian. Marina Martossian, who has been working illegally for five months as a cleaner, is typical of 40,000 compatriots there. She is delighted with her $300 monthly pay and calls her Turkish bosses “the kindest people in the world”.

That's a big change. Bitter debate over the fate of the Ottoman Armenians—did the mass killings of 1915 constitute genocide?—has fuelled decades of enmity. A survey by TESEV, a think-tank in Istanbul, showed some 70% of Armenians had a negative view of the Turks: a tenth called them “enemies”; a similar chunk “barbarians”. Among Turks, 34% thought poorly of Armenians (17%, bizarrely, believed the Armenians were Jews).

Turkey's Armenian minority dwindled to 80,000. In 1993 Turkey sealed the border with Armenia, after it seized the province of Nagorno-Karabakh from the Turks' Azeri cousins. The issue poisons other ties too: this week Turkey broke off military relations with France, after parliament there voted to criminalise denial of the genocide.

Now Turkish officials go easy on the Armenians—in contrast to other illegal workers. They also welcome changing attitudes among diaspora Armenians, especially among those who actually visit Turkey. In an e-mail widely circulated among émigrés this month, Kardash Onnig, an Armenian-American artist, who recently returned from an arts festival in the eastern province of Kars, says he “never imagined that an Armenian artist singing Armenian songs could elicit a response of such brotherly humanity. I was in a sea of Turks dancing to Armenian tunes. What joy! My eyes were full of tears.”

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.

Armenian Businessmen Come to Istanbul for Investments

By Ercan Baysal
Thursday, November 16, 2006
zaman.com

As the reactions to French parliament’s controversial Armenian genocide bill continue, the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) is taking the initiative to loosen tension between Armenia and Turkey.

Members of TUSIAD and the Union of Businessmen and Manufacturers of Armenia (UMBA) do not want France’s stance to overshadow relations so they will come together in Istanbul. UMBA was officially invited to the Black Sea and Caspian Industrialists Confederation Union meeting on Nov. 27.

TUSIAD president, Omer Sabanci, and UMBA chairman Arsen Ghazarian will also discuss their countries’ relations besides regular business negotiations.

Kaan Soyak, the Turkish-Armenian co-chair of the Council on Development of Economic Ties said Ghazaryan will invite TUSIAD members to Armenia to invest in textile, energy and telecommunication sectors.

Soyak said this meeting was important for Russia and the Armenian Diaspora:

“Turkey has become an attractive market thanks to the atmosphere of stability. Armenians in the Diaspora want to make investments in Turkey mostly in hotels, real estate and port sectors. They have made their applications to our council in this regard. These issues will be discussed during the meeting.”

“Armenia is a virgin market, right now they only have relations with Iran so we want Turkish investors there too,” said Soyak and added that this kind of commercial relationship could diffuse the tension between the two countries.

Trade between Turkey and Armenia takes place unofficially via Iran. According to unofficial statistics, the total trade volume between the two countries reached $200 million dollars.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) noted the Turkey-Armenia embargo costs about $570-720 million dollars to Armenia every year.

If the border gates were opened, Armenia’s transportation costs would drop by about 30-50 percent, its export volume would double and its Gross National Product would increase by about 30-38 percent.

According to World Bank statistics, Armenia’s savings in transportation costs would be about $6.4-8.4 million dollars, energy saving would be $45 million and its export volume would increase by about $269-342 million dollars. In this way Armenia’s total benefit from the opening of the border would be about $320-396 million dollars.

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.

Ancient Silk Road to get its modern railway counterpart at UN regional conference

08.11.2006 08:52:08
UzReport.com

A railway version of the famed Silk Road is set to move a step closer to reality at a regional United Nations transport conference that opened in the Republic of Korea (ROK) on 6 November, with an agreement for a trans-continental network linking national systems from Armenia to Viet Nam.

"We are here because we dare to dream - of revitalizing the spirit of enterprise that symbolizes the ancient Silk Road," UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su told the meeting in ROK's southern port city of Busan. "Our work this week will constitute policy decisions for building interlinked highways and railways for 21st century Asia."

He noted that decisions made during the Conference could transform remote parts of the region into interconnected hubs of economic vitality and social progress. "We need to deal with a range of infrastructure and institutional barriers that blunt the competitive edge of exports and increase the costs of imports," he said. "Much work lies ahead of us, to develop efficient and truly cost-effective transport linkages."

Some 300 high-ranking officials are meeting from 6-8 November ahead of the ministerial meeting scheduled for 10-11 November. More than 50 ministerial-level representatives from 43 of UNESCAP's 61 members are expected to attend.

One of the highlights of the conference is the signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway Network (TAR) on 10 November. Once signed, the treaty will be deposited with Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York.

The TAR accord comes on the heels of the Asian Highway Network that came into force last year, also under UNESCAP auspices. UNESCAP experts believe that port efficiency can be enhanced through the integration of rail and shipping to avoid port congestion, a key factor in Asia, which is home to 13 of the world's top 20 container ports.

TAR is also crucial for landlocked countries whose access to world markets is heavily dependent on efficient links to the region's main international ports. Twelve of the world's 30 landlocked countries are in Asia, and 10 are TAR members.

TAR members are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Viet Nam.

A Ministerial Declaration on Transport will include a framework for the efficient and effective implementation of a regional action programme. It is designed to set the direction of transport development in the UNESCAP region over the next five years.

A second Ministerial Declaration will focus on improving road safety. UNESCAP estimates that by 2020 approximately 610,000 road deaths, representing two-thirds of the world's total, will be in the UNESCAP region.

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.

EU urges Ankara to rethink stance on Hamas

4 November, 2006
Abhaber.com - EU Turkey News Network

Describing Hamas as a "terrorist group" in its upcoming progress report on Turkey, the European Union indirectly criticizes Ankara, urging it to conform with the common position of the Union.

According to the draft progress report obtained by The New Anatolian before the text is released by the EU next Wednesday, although the Union states that "Turkey has broadly continued to align its foreign and security policy with that of the EU…and has continued to support the Middle East peace process," it continues by saying, "Turkey declared in February 2006 to share the objectives EU Common Position on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism and ensure that its national policies would conform to that Common Position. Hamas is on the list included in this Common Position."

On other issues about foreign, security and defense policy, while the Union praises Turkey's participation in the EU-led police missions including Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUPM), former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Proxima) and in Congo (EUROPOL KINSHASA) and UN and NATO peace missions for the development of European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), it criticized Turkey's resistance to including Greek Cyprus and Malta in the EU-NATO strategic cooperation based on the "Berlin Plus" agreement. The reports also notes that Turkey continues, for political reasons, to block Greek Cyprus' membership in certain suppliers' groups, such as the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies.

Touching on Turkey's relations with the Middle East, while the report says that Turkey's relations with Syria continued to develop positively, it also praises Ankara's efforts and concrete initiatives to promote stability in Iraq by facilitating dialogue between U.S. authorities and Sunni Arabs. "Turkey argues that there is a direct link between the recent escalation of violence in the southeast of Turkey and increased clashes between Turkish Armed Forces and the PKK and 'infiltration of PKK members' from the Iraqi border," it was said in the report, saying that a significant number of troops were deployed along the Iraqi border in order to prevent infiltration by PKK terrorists from northern Iraq.

The report also praised Turkish efforts to encourage Iran to comply with the demands of the international community and the country's support to EU efforts to obtain long-term guarantees for the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its Nuclear Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by Iran.

The continued strong support of Turkey for the "Bonn process" concerning the reconstruction of Afghanistan was also praised in the report.

Brussels urges Turkey to open its border with Armenia

The Union in the progress report also urges Turkey to open its border with Armenia, stressing that this would be an important step forward in the establishment of good neighborly relations between the two countries and would boost trade relations.

While urging Turkey to open its border with Armenia, the EU cites the lack of significant developments in relations between Turkey and Armenia since the official exchange of letters between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian in April 2005.

However the EU notes a closer alignment of Turkey's official position with EU positions in relation with the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia. "Turkey has reiterated its support for the European Neighborhood Policy. Turkey participates in the regional initiative GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) with observer status. Turkey followed closely the elections in Azerbaijan. It aligned itself with the EU Presidency statement on the elections in Azerbaijan on 10 November 2005," said the report.

ABHaber 04.11.2006 thenewanatolian.com

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.

The EU should help resolve the Turkish-Armenian conflict

01.11.2006
By Nicolas Tavitian
EUOBSERVER / COMMENT - Turkey's accession process provides a historic opportunity to bring about a transformation of the country, and of its relationship with its neighbours. But in embarking in this new enlargement in 1999, the EU seems to have taken on more than it initially believed.

A case in point: the recent vote in the French parliament in favour of criminalising the denial of the Armenian genocide. The vote generated an unprecedented interest in relations between Turkey and the Armenians. It is the clearest demonstration yet that, by opening enlargement negotiations with Turkey, the EU has unwittingly taken on the Armenian issue as well.

This is a welcome crisis. In 2000, the European Commission and the council [EU member states] both curtly dismissed the entire matter as a "historical debate,"and left it off the agenda of enlargement negotiations.

They should have known better. The issue is anything but historical. The republic of Turkey - with 65 million inhabitants and the largest NATO army in Europe - has blockaded the tiny Republic of Armenia - 3 million inhabitants - for more than 13 years now, and refused to establish diplomatic relations with it.

The issue of the Armenian genocide is quite different: most of the million or so Armenians in the EU are the descendants of the survivors of the 1915 genocide, which happened on the territory of modern Turkey but which is still being denied by Ankara. Without dwelling on the point, let us note the incredibly dehumanising barbarity of the event. It marked the survivors, and their descendents, for generations.

The current blockade of Armenia lends credibility to the notion that Turkish politics are still driven by a strong anti-Armenian impulse - or so Armenians generally see it. Little has happened in past decades to prove them wrong. It is hardly surprising that Armenians in the EU are not thrilled by the prospect of Turkish accession.

The Armenian government, by contrast, pins its hopes on the beneficial transformation of Turkey which EU accession is bound to bring about.

Turkish-Armenian border
At the same time, a great many Turks - businessmen in particular - would like to see the Armenian border opened. Many more aspire to opening up Turkish society and rediscovering its past. But Turkish leaders are unlikely to take the political risk of engaging with Armenia or Armenians of their own accord without some encouragement.

The EU could help. Regrettably, over the past four years, the commission not only ignored the whole problem, but helped it fester on occasion.

In 2002, Guenter Verheugen, enlargement commissioner at the time, persuaded the European Parliament not to include wording on the closed border and the genocide in one of its Turkey resolutions, arguing this would interfere with a dialogue which was ongoing in the US-sponsored Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission.

The Armenian members of this commission, who saw the dialogue was being abused as an excuse for EU inaction, soon after withdrew from it.

Yet there is another way. By addressing the question of relations between Turkey and the Armenians head on, the EU could help resolve a conflict, contribute to Turkey's transformation and generate support for Turkey's membership in the EU.

In the first place, the EU should contribute to the establishment of two dialogues: one governmental and one between civil societies. The first is to be conducted between the republics of Armenia and Turkey: together, the two states must decide, with EU help, on the steps required to establish diplomatic relations and open the border.

Two dialogues
The second dialogue should involve Turkish society and EU citizens of Armenian descent - the Armenian Diaspora. That will be a more open and diffuse process, but it is indispensable to Turkey's successful integration into Europe.

It must involve the rediscovery by Turkey of its own Armenian heritage, and by Armenians of a changed Turkey. Most importantly, a successful civil society dialogue will contribute to appeasing Turkey's still strident sense of national pride, open the way to rediscovering history, and help anchor Anatolia to the European mainland.

The experience of the only existing Turkish-Armenian group, the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council, should be valuable in this regard. Since 1997, against the odds, this non-governmental network has helped establish links between Armenians and Turks at all levels, and on several continents.

Both these dialogues must be sponsored and monitored by the EU. Without a credible mediator, and publicity where possible, dialogues are unlikely to produce results.

Secondly, the EU should lay down the rules with clarity. The commission has indeed relentlessly and effectively fought for freedom of expression. But Turkey is also already obliged in theory, under the current customs union agreement which entered into force in 1995, to entertain commercial relations with Armenia.

It should be made quite clear to the country that it will not join the EU until those borders are opened and trade relations fully functional.

Finally, whatever else it does, the EU should not subsidise the blockade of Armenia. The most destitute part of the Turkey is along the closed Armenian border, just 50 km from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and its million consumers. But rather than opening the border to trade with its neighbour, Turkey prefers to rely on subsidies from Brussels - €40 million this year - to sustain the local economy.

Ultimately, the EU public opinion's acceptance of Turkish membership depends in large part on whether it feels that Europe is changing Turkey or that Turkey is changing Europe. Turkey's Armenian question will help us find out whether the EU is still serious about its ideals.

Nicolas Tavitian is director of the Turkish Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC) in the EU and also heads the Inside Europe Resource Centre, a public policy centre dedicated to EU affairs relating to Armenia.

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.

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.

Railroad project constitutes hope for three countries: Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan

Sunday, October 15, 2006
Turkish Daily News

After the closure of the Turkish-Armenian border crossing at Doğukapı 13 years ago, the eastern Turkish city of Kars has been struggling with poverty and unemployment. Kars residents want the railroad to be opened as soon as possible

By SELMA ŞİMŞEK BEKTAŞ

KARS

There is not even one tree around. Passing through a valley that almost resembles eternity, there are stone houses with earthen roofs, children playing in the mud and women with faces darkened by cold and weariness.

Here is Turkey's border area with Armenia and Georgia. The scene is never changing. Villages look alike, so do people. In three neighboring countries, residents talk the same, the talk is about “poverty and unemployment.” “Jobs and food” being the only agenda in this region, a project that interests three countries is top of the debate nowadays: The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku Railroad Project. The reason that this 8-year-old project moves up in the agenda is that the Armenian lobby in the United States has blocked loans to this project in the U.S. Senate. Immediately afterwards, the fact that Russia is about to impose an embargo on Georgia, also brings another light to the project. This route will be Turkey's cheapest and shortest access to Central Asia. Also, Georgia, immersed in economic troubles, will become a transit center of the region with the help of this railroad.

The Transportation Ministry sheds light to which phase the project is at: “The technical project of the route will be completed at the end of 2006. In 2007, a tender will be held. and the estimated cost of the project is $500 million.”

Bypassing Doğukapı:

The aim of the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku Railroad project is to expand the trade volume among Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. This route will bypass Doğukapı, meaning Armenia, the country that has troubles with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and end in Akhalkalaki, a small city in Georgia's southern region. From Akhalkalaki onwards to Tbilisi, the existing railroad route will be connected to the network expanding to the entire Caucasus.

For the Turkish and Azeri sides, this project is not only an economic project but each has a political goal attached to it. While both countries plan to have access to a huge market of $250 billion, at the same time, they consider cornering Armenia on issues such as occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the alleged genocide. Also, Georgia plans to become a new transit route to the Caucasus just like Armenia.

Turkey's Armenian border has been closed since 1993. For this reason Turkey cannot access the Caucasus and Central Asia through the shortest and cheapest route. The fact that the border crossing point at Doğukapı is closed cuts Armenia's connection to the West. It only has a road connection with Georgia to access a naval connection. Thus, the new railroad project is seen as the key to the $250 billion market of the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Key to our future:

Even though the eastern Turkish city of Kars is among those provinces that have been prioritized for incentives, it is far from being a center of attraction for investors.

The closure of Doğukapı in 1993 has brought Kars economy to a standstill. Because this crossing is not an ordinary border gate. Once, Kars was selling 10,000 livestock annually to Russia and significant volumes of goods were exported to Iraq and Syria through this gate.

Many of Kars businessmen speak in one language: “The revenue initiated by this border crossing cannot be compared to any railroad project. We have no patience left for any more waiting. Because, our city, Kars is the only one suffering from and paying for the consequences of the closure of Doğukapı after Turkey decided to cut diplomatic ties with Armenia. Our genuine wish is to have Doğukapı opened. If that is not possible, then let them build the railroad to Tbilisi. This is the key to our future.”

Several Kars businessmen insist that the project of the century is the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku Railroad, not the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. This project means an alternative route that would give them access to the outside world.

Doğukapı: Silent for 13 years:

Standing right at Doğukapı, the border crossing that Kars people still have hopes and expectations that will open one day, has a capacity of delivering 10 million tons of goods annually.

A giant silence prevails in the area. The platform where the crane rests, once used for loading and unloading cargo delivered via railroad, is still in its place. The railroad where weeds have grown looks as if it can be functional after some brief repairs. The terminal building is in ruins. Kars residents say, “Only if they open the border, we will complete the whole work in one week.”

The closest witness to Doğukapı's silence is Kalkandere Village. At a walking distance to the border crossing, what can be seen at the entrance of the village is a striking example of regional unemployment. Young people from the village greet us at the entrance of their village. All of them are unemployed. “Harvesting of beet is finished. Winter is approaching. Time will not pass for us now,” says one of them gloomily.

Kubilay Oktay, 27, says, “I was loading cargo at Doğukapı when I was 13.” His life now is limited to commuting between fields and the village. Ayvaz Göktaş, 18, qualified for higher education in tourism this year but he could not use this major opportunity that would have taken him from Kars because of a shortage of money.

Eighty-year-old Murat Şimşek says that many villagers used to earn their living from Doğukapı: “It is closed now and our business is over. Our young people are unemployed. You cannot make a living by harvesting beet and herding cattle. They say Armenians are on the other side of the border. So what? Who cares who's on the other side, Armenia or what? We want jobs.”

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.