TABDC meets EU commissioner and special representative for the South Caucasus
A delegation of the Turkish Armenian Business Development Council met recently with European Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn and with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby. Mr Rehn plays a leading role in preparing for Turkey’s accession to the European Union. Mr Semneby has the responsibility of coordinating EU relations with the South Caucasus countries and contributing to conflict resolution in the region.
[TABDC, Ankara
& Yerevan] The purpose of the visit was to brief EU leaders and
opinion formers on the status of relations between the two republics of
Turkey and Armenia and to encourage the EU to contribute more
decisively to the normalisation of relations between them. EU candidate
country Turkey has kept the joint border closed since 1993 and has no
diplomatic relations with neighbouring Armenia.
The TABDC delegation also met with experts and staff in
think-tanks, NGOs and EU institutions whose work touch upon relations
between Armenia and Turkey. The TABDC delegation was composed of Noyan
Soyak, Burcu Gültekin and Nicolas Tavitian.
The delegation stressed the importance of Turkey-Armenian
relations, emphasizing in particular the positive impact which the
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia would have on the
Nagorno-Karabakh process as well as on stability and development in the
Southern Caucasus in general. They further highlighted how both
Turkey’s and Armenia’s relations with the European Union would benefit,
should relations be normalized, and encouraged the EU to play an active
role in mediating in good faith between the two countries.
TABDC representatives emphasized furthermore how little has been
done so far by the EU Institutions in this respect. There is no
dialogue between Armenian and Turkish authorities to speak of, and
initiatives by business or civil society to build bridges between the
two countries are virtually non-existent due to the many obstacles in
their way. Europe therefore also has a role to play in ensuring that
cross-border cooperation and “people-to-people” exchanges are initiated
between Turkey and Armenia without further delay in preparation for the
full restoration of relations between the two countries.
Both EU Commissioner Olli Rehn and Peter Semneby agreed on the
importance of Turkey’s relations with Armenia. They expressed their
commitment to the issue and their support for bridge-building
initiatives. They also referred to the important role which the
Armenian Diaspora in Europe could play in the process.
The Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council is a
non-governmental network of Armenian and Turkish business leaders
working since 1997 for the restoration of normal relations between
Turkey and Armenia and for the reopening of their common border. The
meetings, which took place on April 18 and 19 2007, were arranged by
the Inside Europe resource centre.
Links:
>> TABDC's web site
