Turkish goods flood Armenia despite tensions, closed border
Monday, 10 September 2007
YEREVAN, Sept 9 (AFP): Barreling along at breakneck speeds, Turkish trucks loaded with goods are a common sight on the winding highways of Armenia, showing that for many Armenians the desire for a bargain outweighs historic hatred.
"What's important for me are the quality and the price of the goods, not where they come from," said 32-year-old Yerevan resident Suren, who recently bought a Turkish-made washing machine.
Turkish goods are flooding into Armenia despite a long history of antagonism between Armenians and Turks, closed borders and major diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Yerevan.
Only 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Turkish border, Yerevan should be a short drive for the truckers. But with Armenia under a Turkish trade embargo and the border sealed, they instead have to follow a long, circuitous route through neighbouring Georgia to haul home appliances, building materials and other goods to Yerevan.
Turkey banned exports to Armenia and closed the border in 1993 in a show of solidarity with close ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with Armenia-backed separatists over the territory of Nagorny Karabakh.
Also angered by Armenia's campaign for the international recognition of mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, Ankara has also refused to establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan.
Yet at the main border crossing between Armenia and Georgia, the queue of Turkish trucks headed for Yerevan can often stretch for more than a kilometre (mile). To get around the embargo, the goods officially change hands in Georgia, through middlemen or shell companies established by Turkish exporters.
"There is a huge quantity of Turkish goods today in Armenia," said Gagik Kocharian, the head of the trade department at Armenia's ministry of trade and economic development.
Home appliances, building materials, household goods, clothes and paper products are the most common Turkish items sold in Armenia, he said, and sales of those goods rose 40 per cent in 2006.
Many consumers, Kocharian said, are indifferent to whether the goods they are buying are Turkish. "People buy brands and very often are not interested or do not know where a product is made," he said.
Many business leaders on both sides are urging the Armenian and Turkish governments to work to end the embargo and re-open the border.
"There is great interest from companies on both sides in doing business with each other. It would be very beneficial for both countries to re-open the border," said Kaan Soyak, the Turkish co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development
Council. Re-opening the border would not only give Armenian exporters easier access to Western markets, but also add to export routes for Turkish companies targeting Azerbaijan and Central Asia, he said. "Unfortunately, the political establishments on both sides benefit from the status quo," he said.
"What's important for me are the quality and the price of the goods, not where they come from," said 32-year-old Yerevan resident Suren, who recently bought a Turkish-made washing machine.
Turkish goods are flooding into Armenia despite a long history of antagonism between Armenians and Turks, closed borders and major diplomatic tensions between Ankara and Yerevan.
Only 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the Turkish border, Yerevan should be a short drive for the truckers. But with Armenia under a Turkish trade embargo and the border sealed, they instead have to follow a long, circuitous route through neighbouring Georgia to haul home appliances, building materials and other goods to Yerevan.
Turkey banned exports to Armenia and closed the border in 1993 in a show of solidarity with close ally Azerbaijan, which was at war with Armenia-backed separatists over the territory of Nagorny Karabakh.
Also angered by Armenia's campaign for the international recognition of mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, Ankara has also refused to establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan.
Yet at the main border crossing between Armenia and Georgia, the queue of Turkish trucks headed for Yerevan can often stretch for more than a kilometre (mile). To get around the embargo, the goods officially change hands in Georgia, through middlemen or shell companies established by Turkish exporters.
"There is a huge quantity of Turkish goods today in Armenia," said Gagik Kocharian, the head of the trade department at Armenia's ministry of trade and economic development.
Home appliances, building materials, household goods, clothes and paper products are the most common Turkish items sold in Armenia, he said, and sales of those goods rose 40 per cent in 2006.
Many consumers, Kocharian said, are indifferent to whether the goods they are buying are Turkish. "People buy brands and very often are not interested or do not know where a product is made," he said.
Many business leaders on both sides are urging the Armenian and Turkish governments to work to end the embargo and re-open the border.
"There is great interest from companies on both sides in doing business with each other. It would be very beneficial for both countries to re-open the border," said Kaan Soyak, the Turkish co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development
Council. Re-opening the border would not only give Armenian exporters easier access to Western markets, but also add to export routes for Turkish companies targeting Azerbaijan and Central Asia, he said. "Unfortunately, the political establishments on both sides benefit from the status quo," he said.