{"id":16921,"date":"2010-02-12T23:05:38","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T23:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turkishforum.com.tr\/en\/content\/?p=16921"},"modified":"2023-04-06T15:42:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T12:42:22","slug":"u-s-envoy-argues-for-turkish-armenian-border-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2010\/02\/12\/u-s-envoy-argues-for-turkish-armenian-border-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Envoy Argues For Turkish-Armenian Border Opening"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"Armenia — Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch attend a panel discussion in Yerevan on February 12, 2010.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
12.02.2010<\/div>\n
Tigran Avetisian<\/div>\n

Armenia would draw substantial economic benefits from the possible opening of its border with Turkey and most Armenians seem to realize that, the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Marie Yovanovitch said on Friday.<\/p>\n

\nReiterating Washington\u2019s strong support for the Turkish-Armenian normalization, Yovanovitch said Armenia\u2019s heavy dependence on Georgian transit routes carries an \u201cenormous risk\u201d that was highlighted during Georgia\u2019s August 2008 war with Russia. The resulting disruption of vital cargo supplies to the landlocked country underlined the importance of having an open border with Turkey, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefits [of border opening], I think, are clear to Armenia,\u201d Yovanovitch told a panel discussion in Yerevan on Turkish-Armenian cross-border commerce. \u201cAn end to geographic and economic isolation; expanded export opportunities, especially for the depressed communities near the border; opening of the new transport routes that would reduce transport costs; easier access to Armenia for Turkish goods; increased competition and choice for Armenian consumers, a higher quality of Armenian products \u2026 and new export routes for Armenian products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armenian exporters would also gain access to the large Turkish market, continued the diplomat. \u201cIn addition, with Turkey and the European Union linked by a customs union agreement for trade purposes, an open border with Turkey would put Armenia on a border of Western Europe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Yovanovitch also spoke of significant political and economic benefits of border opening for Turkey. \u201cTurkish companies would have new export markets in Armenia, and by establishing operations here they could take advantage of favorable export tariffs to Russia and other CIS countries at the same time as they create employment for Armenians,\u201d she argued.<\/p>\n

The remarks reflect the view of not only the U.S. government but also the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and other lending institutions. Senior IMF and the World Bank officials believe that a positive impact of border opening on Armenia\u2019s recession-hit economy would be felt as early as this year.<\/p>\n

Some Armenian political groups claim that cross-border commerce with Turkey would actually damage the domestic economy. They say it would flood the domestic market with cheap Turkish consumer goods and thereby hurt many Armenian manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Yovanovitch found such concerns legitimate but said the Armenian government can minimize possible \u201cshort-term shocks\u201d resulting from the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations. \u201cOpening the border between Armenia and Turkey will require adjustments,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019m confident that the long-term benefits to both countries and the region far outweigh any short-term economic impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yovanovitch also stood by her view that most Armenians support rapprochement with Turkey. \u201cIn meeting with people all around Armenia and all segments of the society, my experience has been that while some may have reservations about the protocols or about specific economic consequences or some other issues, they are in general overwhelmingly in favor of restoring relations between the two countries and opening the border,\u201d she said. \u201cNobody forgets the past, but most are also focused on the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are concerned about their own prospects, about Armenia\u2019s development and they understand that an open border would ease Armenia\u2019s isolation, create economic opportunity and benefit Armenia\u2019s children,\u201d added the envoy.<\/p><\/div>\n

https:\/\/www.azatutyun.am\/a\/1956612.html<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Armenia — Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch attend a panel discussion in Yerevan on February 12, 2010. 12.02.2010 Tigran Avetisian Armenia would draw substantial economic benefits from the possible opening of its border with Turkey and most Armenians seem to realize that, the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, Marie Yovanovitch said on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":783639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,89,34],"tags":[2129],"class_list":["post-16921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-armenia","category-turkey","category-usa","tag-turkey-and-armenia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/783639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}