TURKISH ARMENIAN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL

TABDC

Discovering Common Grounds of Economic Cooperation

PRESS RELEASE


European Parliament urges the opening of the Turkish-Armenian Border


Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council is thankful to Per Gahrton, EP rapporteur on the Caucasus and to Joost Lagendijk, chairman of the EP delegation for relations with Turkey , for hosting a conference on April 3, entitled "Still an Iron Curtain: 10 years after the border was closed, April 3, 1993-April 3, 2003" commemorating the date of 10th anniversary of border closure between Armenia and Turkey. The joint initiative of MEP Per Gahrton and Joost Lagendijk, has contributed to extend on the European level the call for the opening for the border between Armenia and Turkey made by TABDC since its co-foundation in Yerevan and Istanbul in 1997.

The two hosts of the conference advocated the need for strenghtening economic and cultural links between Turkey and Armenia as a prelude for the settlement of political disputes. In cases of political conflicts, as quoted by Joost Lagendijk "by-passed roads in European experience, not to forget but try to solve in the end" proves to be the best strategy. Per Garhrton, by stressing the utmost importance of pragmatism, underlined the "existence of an amount of pragmatism in the region" as showed by the decision to restore the North-South Caucasus railway link and characterized TABDC as one of the example of this pragmatism. Nicolas Tavitian and Burcu Gultekin, co-authors of a report on Armenia-Turkey relations in the 1990's published by the GRIP, a Brussels based think tank, pointed out the costs of the status quo for Armenia and eastern provinces of Turkey and emphasized that the assessment of lost opportunities will contributed to extend the set of possibilities in the region.

Kaan Soyak, co-Chairman of TABDC and the main speaker of the conference expressed his gratitude for the European Commission which in its 2002 Regular Report on Turkey's Progress towards Accession, praised the activities of TABDC. He reiterated his call for the immediate opening of the border between Turkey and Armenia, which would break the deadlock and facilitate the settlement of political conflicts in the region. Kaan Soyak presented the activities of TABDC in the field of public diplomacy: besides its lobbying activites through all regional institutions and agencies, TABDC has been working for increasing direct interactions by sponsoring numerous trade missions, joint cultural activities, academic cooperation and student exchange programmes and been working on a awareness raising campaign for the restoration of Armenian monuments in Turkey. Kaan Soyak has made a presentation from the perspective of a businessman of the regional impact of a Turkish-Armenian cooperative strategy especially within the TRACECA (Transport Corridor Europe/Caucasus/Asia): the use of the existing railway connection between the two countries will integrate the most cost-effective, commercially viable and strategically beneficial East-West corridor to the EC sponsored transport programme.

During the discussions the MEP, Per Gahrton and Lagendijk underscored that the conference was aiming at drawing the attention of the European institutions on the much neglected aspect of Turkish-Armenian relations, the closure of the common border and has no intention to revise EP's official positions expressed in the precedent reports.

The conference was attended by officials from the Embassy of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives of NGOs, members of Parliament and diaspora institutions.


TABDC ISTANBUL :
Tel: (0-212) 236 00 17 Fax: (0-212) 259 72 51
e-mail : tabdc@tabdc.org
website: www.tabdc.org

TABDC YEREVAN:
Abelyan 6/1 Str.Yerevan, Armenia
Tel: (374-1) 35 11 80 Fax: (374-1) 35 12 40

Top