Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

ANCA: No New Trade Deals While Turkey Blockades Armenia, Occupies Cy

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • ANCA: No New Trade Deals While Turkey Blockades Armenia, Occupies Cy

    ANCA: NO NEW TRADE DEALS WHILE TURKEY BLOCKADES ARMENIA, OCCUPIES CYPRUS

    http://asbarez.com/110332/anca-no-new-trade-deals-while-turkey-blockades-armenia-occupies-cyprus/
    Thursday, May 30th, 2013

    ANCA's Kate Nahapetian testifies

    ANCA's Nahapetian Calls for U.S.-Armenia Trade and Investment Framework
    Agreement and Double Tax Treaty during Testimony before U.S.

    Trade Panel

    WASHINGTON-During testimony earlier today before the U.S. Trade Policy
    Staff Committee, Armenian National Committee of America Government
    Affairs Director Kate Nahapetian called upon the U.S. government
    to condition Turkey's participation in any new Transatlantic trade
    initiatives upon Ankara's immediate lifting its blockade of Armenia
    and ending its occupation of Cyprus.

    Nahapetian offered the ANCA's testimony during the first of two-days
    of public hearings regarding the proposed Transatlantic Trade and
    Investment Partnership (TTIP). The hearing was chaired by Doug Bell,
    who heads the TPSC, and included the participation of representative
    from a broad range of U.S. agencies including the Departments of
    Treasury, State, Commerce, Transportation, and Health and Human
    Services.

    "Turkey's blockade of Armenia, a landlocked nation, which has been in
    force for more than two decades and prevents an important East-West
    trade route, is among the longest-standing in modern history,"
    explained Nahapetian. "This blockade is all the more objectionable,
    since Turkey's act of economic aggression is targeted against the very
    Armenian people that Turkey's predecessor state, the Ottoman Empire,
    attempted to exterminate during the Armenian Genocide."

    Nahapetian went on to point out that, "We are particularly concerned
    about Turkey's unwillingness to comply with previous trade agreements.

    Since its 2005 Customs Union Agreement with the European Union, Turkey
    has refused to implement the requirements of beginning to normalize
    relations with the Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member, and
    opening its ports and airports to Cyprus. Turkey must demonstrate
    that it no longer flagrantly violates trade obligations before being
    granted any preferential treatment under the Transatlatic Trade and
    Investment Partnership (TTIP)." The complete text of Nahapetian's
    testimony is provided below.

    During a question and answer session with TPSC Chairman Doug Bell
    and U.S. Assistant Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle
    East Dan Mullaney, Nahapetian discussed the ANCA's commitment to the
    expansion of the U.S.-Armenia trade relationship, focusing specifically
    on the benefits to bilateral commerce that could be realized through
    the negotiation of a U.S.-Armenia Double Tax Treaty and a Trade and
    Investment Framework Agreement.

    The Turkish government, has, in recent months, lobbied Washington
    aggressively for inclusion in a proposed far-ranging Transatlantic
    Trade and Investment Partnership between the U.S. and the European
    Union, as well as for its own U.S.-Turkey bilateral free trade
    agreement. The ANCA, along with the American Hellenic Institute (AHI)
    and the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), has submitted a
    joint written statement to the USTPSC encouraging the U.S. government
    to require, as a pre-condition for any new trade deals involving
    Turkey, that Ankara have fully withdrawn its military occupation
    of Cyprus, unconditionally lifted its illegal economic blockade of
    Armenia, and ended all obstacles to trade, investment, and other
    forms of commerce it has imposed upon Cyprus and Armenia.

    Also offering testimony will be a broad range of corporate, labor,
    citizens, and trade associations, including U.S. Chamber of Commerce,
    AFL-CIO, American Insurance Association, Securities Industry
    and Financial Markets Association, Software Information Industry
    Association, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Public Citizen,
    U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Consumer Federation of America,
    Underwriters Laboratories, Biotechnology Industry Organization,
    Transatlantic Business Council, American Association of Exporters and
    Importers, American Apparel and Footwear Association, and American
    Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.

    Armenian National Committee of America Testimony at Hearing

    Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Public Hearing

    Docket Number USTR-2013-0019 May 29, 2013 Washington, DC

    Hello, my name is Kate Nahapetian and I am Government Affairs Director
    for the Armenian National Committee of America, the largest Armenian
    American advocacy group.

    We welcome the opportunity to share our views regarding U.S.

    negotiating priorities and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and
    Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the European Union.

    I will summarize the concerns we outlined in our joint statement with
    the American Hellenic Institute and the Hellenic American Leadership
    Council, leading organizations of the Greek American community.

    Our concerns relate primarily to the Turkish government's stated
    interest in joining this agreement, although Turkey is not a European
    Union member, as well as public comments by Turkish leaders and others
    regarding a possible U.S.-Turkey Free Trade Agreement. Although the
    President's notice to Congress of his intention to negotiate this
    agreement made it clear that the agreement would be between the United
    States and the European Union and inclusion of Turkey in this process
    would require additional notice to Congress, we wanted to share our
    concerns nevertheless.

    In the course of any talks or negotiations related to such agreements,
    we call on the President to be guided by the Trade Act of 1974 which
    affirms our nation's commitment "to establish fairness and equity in
    international trading relations," a principle that the government of
    Turkey regularly violates.

    More specifically, we call upon to the Obama Administration to ensure
    that the TTIP, related agreements, and any bilateral agreements that
    may directly or indirectly involve the Republic of Turkey require, as a
    statutory precondition, that the Turkish government 1) unconditionally
    lift its illegal economic blockade of Armenia, 2) fully withdraw its
    unlawful and brutal military occupation of Cyprus, an EU member, and 3)
    immediately end all obstacles to trade, investment, and other forms
    of commerce it currently imposes on Cyprus and Armenia. The blockade
    of Armenia, a landlocked nation, which has been in force for more than
    two decades and prevents an important East-West trade route, is among
    the longest-standing in modern history. This blockade is all the more
    objectionable, since Turkey's act of economic aggression is targeted
    against the very Armenian people that Turkey's predecessor state, the
    Ottoman Empire, attempted to exterminate during the Armenian Genocide.

    Within days of signing an agreement in October 2009 to end its blockade
    of Armenia regardless of any progress on the Nagorno Karabakh peace
    process, Turkey reneged on the agreement and insisted that it would
    not end its blockade until the Nagorno Karabakh conflict was resolved
    in Azerbaijan's favor.

    The World Bank, U.S. State Department, and European Parliament reports
    have all outlined the devastating impact of Turkey's blockade against
    Armenia, which has been in place for over a decade.

    The traditional railroad linking Armenia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan
    could be operational within days, but instead of allowing this rail
    system to run, Turkey is financing the construction of an entirely
    new railroad system that would circumvent Armenia and traverse Georgia
    to reach Azerbaijan at a cost of over $600 million.

    In yet another example of Turkey's efforts to hamper rather than
    promote free trade, Turkey invoked the rarely used Article XIII of
    the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO, when Armenia joined the
    WTO in 2002, meaning that it would not abide by any WTO obligations
    as they apply to Armenia. Article XIII has been invoked only eight
    times and only three are still maintained, one of them being Turkey's
    invocation against Armenia.

    We are particularly concerned about Turkey's unwillingness to
    comply with previous trade agreements. Since its 2005 Customs Union
    Agreement with the European Union, Turkey has refused to implement the
    requirements of beginning to normalize relations with the Republic of
    Cyprus, a European Union member, and opening its ports and airports to
    Cyprus. Turkey must demonstrate that it no longer flagrantly violates
    trade obligations before being granted any preferential treatment
    under TTIP.

    The implementation of any provision of such agreements related to
    Turkey should be conditional upon official annual certification by the
    President and subsequent confirmation by the Congress that Turkey has,
    over the past twelve months, fully complied with these conditions.

    These requirements, if enforced, will support and strengthen U.S.

    leadership in promoting a multilateral rule-of-law based trading
    system, and, more broadly, in encouraging compliance by Turkey and
    other countries with international agreements to promote trade.

    We welcome, as a general principle, the U.S. Trade Representative's
    commitment to the expansion of U.S. trade and investment based on
    "fairness and equity in international trading relations" that require
    respect for the rule of law. We hold, however, that, in the case
    of Turkey, we would not advance our national interests, further our
    economic prosperity, or promote our core values by rewarding a nation
    that so egregiously and flagrantly undermines the integrity of the
    global trading system by occupying a European Union member state and
    refusing to end its two decade blockade of landlocked Armenia.

    Moreover, any inclusion of Turkey in an already complex process
    involving multiple European Union member states would create serious
    complications and disruptions to the process.

    We would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Trade Policy Staff
    Committee to discuss our priorities and proposals on this matter in
    greater detail.

Working...
X