Armenian-Turkish business forum in Yerevan brings more than 50 Turkish entrepreneurs to Yerevan
22.11.2011,
20:29
The second Armenian-Turkish business forum kicked off today in Yerevan. The event has brought over 50 representatives of Turkish business circles from six regions of Turkey to the Armenian capital.
YEREVAN, November 22. /ARKA/. The second Armenian-Turkish business forum kicked off today in Yerevan. The event has brought over 50 representatives of Turkish business circles from six regions of Turkey to the Armenian capital.
Arsen Ghazarian, the chairman of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia, said during the first forum last year the business people from both countries created the alliance of travel agencies that largely contributed to the development of tourism ties between the two countries, boosting, in particular, the pilgrimage of Armenians to historical Armenian monuments in Turkey. He said this year’s meeting has attracted Turkish business representatives from six regions, including Ankara, Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Kars.
"By developing our relationship we are trying to show the Turkish government that we can cooperate even with closed borders, and that it is time for the Turkish authorities to understand their benefits and approach Armenia without prejudice and without taking into account the interests of third countries", he said when talking to journalists."If the borders are open, we will be able to participate in major regional projects and initiate joint projects. Today, Armenian goods can compete with Turkish products in the local and Turkish markets. But today, unfortunately, we have virtually no exports to Turkey," he stressed.
The forum is organized by the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia with collaboration with USAID as part of a two-year project designed to promote Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. A similar gathering will be organized in 2012 October in Turkey. The partner in the joint forum is the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC). Armenian and Turkish business structures, including associations of women entrepreneurs, will sign several memoranda on cooperation.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since Armenia became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for its ally, Azerbaijan, which had a dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan. There are several sensitive issues complicating the establishment of normal relations between the two countries, particularly, Ankara’s blatant support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. -0-
Arsen Ghazarian, the chairman of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia, said during the first forum last year the business people from both countries created the alliance of travel agencies that largely contributed to the development of tourism ties between the two countries, boosting, in particular, the pilgrimage of Armenians to historical Armenian monuments in Turkey. He said this year’s meeting has attracted Turkish business representatives from six regions, including Ankara, Istanbul, Diyarbakir and Kars.
"By developing our relationship we are trying to show the Turkish government that we can cooperate even with closed borders, and that it is time for the Turkish authorities to understand their benefits and approach Armenia without prejudice and without taking into account the interests of third countries", he said when talking to journalists."If the borders are open, we will be able to participate in major regional projects and initiate joint projects. Today, Armenian goods can compete with Turkish products in the local and Turkish markets. But today, unfortunately, we have virtually no exports to Turkey," he stressed.
The forum is organized by the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Armenia with collaboration with USAID as part of a two-year project designed to promote Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. A similar gathering will be organized in 2012 October in Turkey. The partner in the joint forum is the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC). Armenian and Turkish business structures, including associations of women entrepreneurs, will sign several memoranda on cooperation.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic ties since Armenia became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support for its ally, Azerbaijan, which had a dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic Armenian enclave of Azerbaijan. There are several sensitive issues complicating the establishment of normal relations between the two countries, particularly, Ankara’s blatant support of Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution process and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire as genocide. -0-
