“There is no calculation that underlies the opening of the border with Turkey. What is the basis of the aspiration of the Armenian government to open the borders? After all, it is not an end in itself,” Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan stated during a discussion titled “Armenia-Turkey: Reconciliation Under Bayraktars” on February 11. According to him, it is a mistake to say that there are no closed borders in the 21st century.
“They happen. The world tends to create economic protection mechanisms, from Switzerland to Africa. Is there any document or justification in the hands of the government, according to which, in case of opening the border with Turkey, we will have so much economic growth? There is not. Moreover, we see that according to the data of independent research centers, if Armenia did not have a closed border at that time, the GDP growth would be one percent per year at best. Not to mention what we could lose in return.”
According to the expert, the public is given a false impression that hostility should be put aside or that opening the border is a good option․ “Iran has the same market and shorter routes for us to China and India. Iran has stated that for it the territorial integrity of Armenia is a red line. Question. Maybe we would put all our efforts on this, if the problem is only economic, and not talk about opening the border with Turkey? The opening of that border is a false agenda at the moment. The assertion that it is not possible without the Turks is false.”
Varuzhan Geghamyan noted that at the same time, the north-south road, which is of strategic importance for Armenia, is no longer a priority in political texts. “Iran is interested in this issue and constantly says at the ambassadorial level that the north-south is a priority for it. The so-called corridor turns Turkey into a regional superpower. The countries that are against this are partners for Armenia, Iran, and Arab states that have sent messages to Armenia on this occasion. The Turkish president said last year that the opening of the Zangezur corridor was a political decision. So, all this should have been a signal for us.”
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Luiza Sukiasyan
