Turkey faces a critical decision

There is no better time than now for Ankara to put an end to Armenia’s blockade

by Tatul Hakobyan

Published: Saturday August 30, 2008

Naiyif Alibeyoglu, mayor of Kars. Tatul Hakobyan / Armenian Reporter

Kars - Naiyif ­Alibeyoglu, the mayor of Kars, crossed the Turkish-Armenian border at the Akyakya-Akhurian crossing point in 1999 in order to meet with his counterpart from Gyumri. Even though Ankara officially closed the borders in April 1993, once in a while the two border crossing points at Akyakya-Akhurian and Alijan-Margara, have been opened for important people.

"The residents of Kars want to see the borders open. However, they are waiting for positive developments toward the settlement of the Karabkh issue. It is true that Turkey closed the borders, but Armenia needs to take steps to reopen them. That will make the defense of our initiative to open the borders easier," said Mr. Alibeyoglu in an interview with the Armenian Reporter, emphasizing that he continues to support the policy of open borders between Armenia and Turkey.

In 2004, under the direct initiative of the mayor of Kars, a petition began with the slogan, "Let the Armenian border be opened." About 50 thousand people from Kars have signed in favor of the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border, a fact that has raised anger in Baku.

"After the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, the resumption of the Kars-Gyumri railway will be more difficult. However, I hope that the Turkish- Armenian border will not remain closed," said Mr. Alibeyoglu.

On July 24 construction on the Turkish section of the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, which bypasses Armenia, commenced in Kars, with the participation of the Turkish, Georgian and Azerbaijani presidents. It is expected that the construction of the railway will be concluded by 2010 and Baku will have a direct train link via Georgian territory with its strategic ally, Turkey. On several occasions, Turkey has declared that Armenia can also participate in the regional economic project on condition that it removes its forces from Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara continues to emphasize that the Armenian border can be opened if Yerevan implements some preconditions, including withdrawing its demands for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

However, recent events could develop into a good opportunity to end Armenia's blockade; of course, if Turkey is willing to put an end to its hostile policy. The events are the upcoming September 6 football match and the recent Georgian-Russian crisis.

If Turkish authorities are truly and positively predisposed toward Armenia and are not differentiating between their neighbors, as President Abdullah Gül said recently, then the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border for a couple of days to those Turkish football fans who want to watch the match at the Hrazdan stadium in Yerevan would be a gesture of goodwill. Yerevan has already taken the first such step by allowing the entrance of Turkish citizens into Armenia without visas, from September 1 to 6.

The South Caucasus Railroad (SCR) CJSC has sent a maintenance crew to begin the restoration ofthe Akhuryan 2 railroad station, which links the cities of Kars and Gyumri, without waiting for the decision of Armenian and Turkish authorities. As SCR spokesman Vahe Davtian told Mediamax, the decision was made by the company's general director, Alexander Kuznetsov. Earlier SCR expressed readiness to restore in the shortest time possible the passenger and cargo railroad communication between Turkey and Armenia.

"We are preparing our station for the arrival of trains from Turkey. The train links between Armenia and Turkey are not dependent on us. This should be solved at a governmental level. Our task is to ensure the functioning of the station," Mr. Davitian told the Arka news agency.

The borders must be open

Joseph Pennington, the U.S. chargé d'affaires in Armenia, has announced that the "recent crisis" in the region shows that the borders must be open and there must be free movement of goods. Mr. Pennington added that no other country has supported the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border as much as the United States.

The Georgian-Russian crisis once again highlighted Armenia's economic and transit dependence on Georgia. Just a few days and weeks of internal instability in Georgia was enough to create a shortage of essential goods in our country. Armenia is directly dependent on Georgia for communication with the outside world, as goods are mainly transported through the territory of this country.

Even though in the autumn of 1992, when Armenia and Azerbaijan were involved in a bloody war in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the length of the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Armenian-Nakhijevani borders, Turkey permitted the import of wheat to Armenia through the Turkish-Armenian border. Moreover, Turkey allocated wheat from its reserves, which it later restored with the European wheat aid envisaged for Armenia. Today, when Armenia's links with the outside world have once again been disrupted, Turkey has the opportunity to display good will and open Armenia's borders, at least temporarily.

The representatives of a number of Armenian, Georgian, U.S., and Turkish NGO's and research centers have appealed to the governments of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia to open the Armenian-Turkish border for at least 10-15 days, as a response to the extraordinary situation created in the Caucasus.

"The railroad running through Georgia is practically useless today because of the destruction of the bridge near Gori. The crisis and its consequences threaten to deprive people in our countries of their basic rights and endanger their hopes for stability, security, and prosperity. The governments in Ankara, Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan have a unique chance to prove their credentials of good neighbors willing to contribute positively to regional peace and stability. We request them to take a collective action and unblock immediately railroad communication networks in the region.... We urge the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border for at least for 10-15 days to address the urgency in the Caucasus. Needless to say, the open border will significantly ease the transportation of humanitarian aid to the Georgian state," the joint statement read.