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ANKARA: What changes in Kars when Armenian border is opened

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  • ANKARA: What changes in Kars when Armenian border is opened

    Today's Zaman, Turkey
    May 10 2009


    What changes in Kars when Armenian border is opened


    Ongoing negotiations between Armenia and Turkey aiming at normalizing
    relations and opening the border have brought Kars, an eastern
    Anatolian province of Turkey, into the spotlight since the city is
    located on the Armenian border.

    Between 1991 and 1993, when the Turkish-Armenian border gate was open,
    direct trade relations between Kars and Gyumri, an Armenian city on
    the Turkish border of Armenia, was one of the main factors that kept
    the city's economy going while it was fighting poverty and high rates
    of unemployment. `People are watching the developments on the Armenian
    border issue with great excitement; if the border is not opened, it
    will certainly lead more people to migrate out of desperation to big
    cities like Istanbul and Izmir to work in construction,'' said Kaan
    Soyak, co-chairman of the Turkish Armenian Business Development
    Council (TABDC), speaking to Sunday's Zaman.
    Migration caused by lack of employment is one of the biggest problems
    in Kars. According to figures from the Turkish Statistics Institute
    (TurkStat), the northeastern part of Turkey, including Kars,
    IÄ?dır, Artvin and Bayburt, is where the highest
    migration has been observed since 1995. Soyak talked about the trade
    there had been between Kars and Armenia; people from Kars brought
    cattle by train to sell in Armenia and Armenians sold paper,
    commercial timber and coal in Kars when the border gate was open. He
    also drew attention to the tourism potential of Kars, stating: `There
    are many places in Kars that have historical meaning for
    Armenians. Therefore, I would expect an immediate rise in the number
    of tourists visiting the city after the border is reopened.'' Kafkas
    University, which was established in 1992 and currently has 41,000
    students, is an important institution in the city.

    However, Ali Güvensoy, the chairman of Kars Chamber of Commerce
    and Industry, does not agree on the opening of the border unless the
    concerns over Azerbaijan are satisfied. `We are one nation and two
    states; the Azerbaijanis are our brothers. If Armenia does not end the
    occupation in Nagorno-Karabakh we should not open the border.''
    Drawing attention to the trade routes passing through Georgia to
    Armenia, causing a rise in transportation costs, Güvensoy said,
    `If the border is opened, Armenia benefits more than Turkey, so
    Armenia should make more concessions than Turkey.''

    He does not think Kars would experience a drastic change in commerce
    when the border is opened. `Kars would not get much more trade than
    other border cities trading with neighboring countries; of course we
    do not object to the new border-opening initiative but I do not
    predict a remarkable change in the city's economy,'' said
    Güvensoy.



    10 May 2009, Sunday
    MÄ°NHAC Ã?ELÄ°K Ä°STANBUL
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