We cannot say that a closed border is a good thing; of course, it is not a good thing. And it is not normal to preach that keeping a closed border is a good phenomenon. The second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, stated this during a talk with his supporters.
"But one thing is clear that opening the border [of Armenia] with Turkey today will deal a big blow to our agriculture because our [two] agricultures are rivals, and it is obvious that Turkey’s agriculture is in a better condition, in larger volumes, and Turkey’s government provides much bigger subsidies. It is virtually not done in Armenia, and the abolition of the Ministry of Agriculture left the sector completely ownerless.
This means that if the border opens now, the situation of our villagers in the Ararat Valley will be just awful. Their product will not be competitive in terms of price.
Before opening the border, at least a few years are needed to raise the level of your agriculture, bring the level of subsidies to the same level, protect your market with various taxes, after which you can only think about opening the border," Kocharyan stressed.
He recalled that in 1998 and 1999—when he was the President of Armenia—works were carried out to replace the country’s imports, as a result of which agriculture gained a rather serious momentum. "The main problem was Turkish goods. Even though the border was closed, they were being brought via Georgia. We were taking very tough measures to protect our market, both legislatively and through subsidies. We have helped the farmer to stand up on his feet. But now there is not a single farm that is not under loans. Part of our population is under loans, the other part—fines, and another part—criminal cases. People are working very hard, [but] they just don't make it. Without resolving these issues, we have no right to talk about trade, opening the border with Turkey. The one who speaks about opening the border should be asked: Who benefits from the balance of mediated trade with Turkey today? What do we export to Turkey? Will the volume of our exports increase or not increase after the opening of the border? Or will the volume of goods imported from Turkey increase exponentially? I am convinced that it will be so," Kocharyan stressed.
