“If Turkey does not turn back halfway, the two-month period fixed by the protocols initial by official Yerevan and Ankara is enough for the Armenian-Turkish border to be reopened and bilateral relations established, Arsen Ghazaryan, the Armenian Co-Chairman of the Armenian-Turkish Economic Cooperation Commission, told NEWS.am.

”But if Turkey back off, it will first of all disgrace itself in the eyes of the international community," the businessman said. He stressed that the reopening of the border is a "derivative’ task, the main aim being the establishment of bilateral relations. The initialed protocols fix the mechanisms of achieving this aim.

According to Ghazaryan, the Armenian-Turkish border can be reopened even before any legal documents are drafted. The relevant subcommittees of the Intergovernmental Commission will deal with the issue as the documents are drafted. “The establishment of diplomatic relations means the removal of Turkey’s unilateral embargo on Armenia, which will lead to the unblocking of the border,” Ghazaryan said. He stressed the initialing of such documents by Yerevan and Ankara is an unprecedented fact. “It is for the first time that Turkey has agreed to put its signature to any documents, without setting any preconditions in the context of either the Armenian Genocide or the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Everything followed a typical scenario,” Ghazaryan said.

If the two countries establish good neighborly relations, economic integration will reach a very high level, the businessman said. “If we are speaking of only Turkish imports to Armenia, the reopening of the border will promote Armenian exports to that country,” Ghazaryan said.

As regards Armenian produces’ fears that cheap Turkish products will flood the Armenian market as soon as the border is reopened, with home-made products to be ousted, Ghazaryan said: “Since early 1990s Turkish products have been flooding the Armenian market, and Armenia has never put any legal, customs or other obstacles to Turkish imports to Armenia. It was early in 1990s that Turkish products flooded the Armenian market. Later, as the domestic industry developed and competitive Armenian products entered the market, Turkish imports to Armenia decreased. No fundamental change in the situation should be expected,” he said. According to Ghazaryan, the Armenian industry can well stand competition, and Armenian producers can enter a new, Turkish, market. “Both Armenia and Turkey, as well as the entire region, will equally benefit from the reopening of the border. Armenia will again be a transit country, which will be of benefit to all – from Central Asia to Europe, from Iraq to Georgia,” Ghazaryan said.