Armenian-Turkish reconciliation pressured from outside

PanARMENIAN.Net - "In the case of the Armenian-Turkish relations the external pressure is felt, especially on Turkey, because it was the first to unilaterally close the border, while Armenia has always advocated the opening of the border without any preconditions," Ruben Melkonyan , turkologist and lecturer of Turkic Chair at the Yerevan State University, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.



According to him, being a very experienced in diplomacy Turkey is still successfully maneuvering in the international arena, and it manages to neutralize the external pressure.



In respect to opening the border, Mr. Melkonyan said that not only the mood of Armenia's public must be taken into account, but also the interests of Diaspora. "In this context, the position of Diaspora is more rigid than that of the public of Armenia, which has a logical explanation. The Armenian community, on the contrary, has a very superficial understanding of Turkey, the Turkish public and the pluses and minuses of an open border as a whole," Mr. Melkonyan added.



When asked about the possible economic consequences of the open borders, he stressed, that since the Armenian economy has a very large agrarian industry, Armenia might not compete with Turkey, having more developed agricultural production.