Armenian government may lift ban on Turkish imports

YEREVAN, Dec. 30. /ARKA/. The Armenian government will have either to approve the extension of a ban on Turkish imports or cancel it, when it convenes Thursday for the last session in 2021, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan told a press conference on Wednesday.

The six-month ban was imposed first on January 1, 2021 and then extended until January 1, 2022. The ban was imposed as retaliation to Turkey's participation and assistance to Azerbaijan in the 44-day war unleashed against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in autumn 2020.

According to the minister, the decision to lift the ban or extend it would also be driven by politics. "Politically, the processes are in a positive scenario now. From this point of view, the rationale of extending the ban is getting weaker," he noted.

Kerobyan said that over the past year a string of dramatic changes have taken place in Armenia and Turkey. According to him, the Turkish lira has significantly devalued, and Turkish goods have become significantly cheaper, which increases the risks for Armenian producers.

"There is no consensus in the government, but since the people involved in the negotiation process have a better command of the big picture, the final decision will be made Thursday,’ he said indicating that the likelihood of lifting the ban is quite big.

Kerobyan said also that throughout the year, the Ministry of Economy has been studying the impact of the ban on the Armenian economy and has found both very positive and very negative effects. One of the negative impacts was the higher inflation in Armenia.

"Depending on what decision is made, we will understand how we need to continue to help local producers so that Armenia can go from being an importing country to a producing country. That's the Economy Ministry's fix-it idea," he said.

On December 16, Kerobyan said that the Ministry of Economy would ask the government to extend the ban.

Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey and Armenia would appoint special envoys to normalize bilateral relations. Later Cavusoglu announced that Serdar Kylic, Turkey's former ambassador to the U.S., was picked up as the special envoy. A few days later the Armenian Foreign Ministry said the Armenian envoy is Ruben Rubinyan, a deputy speaker of the parliament and a close ally of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

On December 27 Cavusoglu said that the first meeting between Turkish and Armenian special envoys on normalization of relations could take place in Moscow. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said there was no agreement yet on the venue and the date of the maiden meeting.

According to government data, Armenia imported $268 million worth of Turkish-manufactured products in 2019 and $178 million worth of Turkish goods in January-October 2020, 15% down year on year. More precisely, $69.4 million worth clothing, $10.3 million worth citrus fruit, $35.2 million worth cars, equipment and mechanisms (electric heaters, refrigerators, etc.), $24.3 million worth oil and oil products, $23.6 million worth chemicals and $21.6 million worth base metals.

Last week it emerged also that FlyOne Armenia airline applied to the Armenian Civil Aviation Committee (CCA) for a permit to perform charter flights from Yerevan to Turkish Istanbul and back. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on December 16 that Ankara was considering the applications of Turkish and Armenian airlines for operating flights between Istanbul and Yerevan.

Turkish mass media outlets quoted Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismayoglu as saying December 23 that flights between Armenia and Turkey will be resumed in the coming days after a 2.5-year break. According to the Minister, the Turkish Pegasus Airlines will carry out the flights.

Although Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence from the former Soviet Union, the countries have no diplomatic ties and Turkey shut down their common border in 1993, in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkey also refuses to recognize the Armenian genocide, committed during 1915-1923 when an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman government. The overwhelming majority of historians widely view the event as genocide.

In 2009, Ankara and Yerevan reached an agreement in Zurich to establish diplomatic relations and to open their joint border, but Turkey later said it could not ratify the deal until Armenia withdrew from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Last year, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of Nagorno-Karabakh. -0