Turkey won’t open border in near future, says Bagratian

Former prime-minister of Armenia, chairman of the Liberty Party Hrant Bagratian said that Turkey will not open its border with Armenia in the near future, and the reasons are neither Azerbaijan nor Nagorno-Karabakh, the reason is a fear of communication links between Armenia and Eastern Turkey (historical Armenia).

“If they even open the border, they will prevent active trade relations,” he said at today’s press conference.

He said Armenia will influence Eastern Turkish regions, populated with 11 million Muslims and where seriously exists the Kurdish factor.

“If the border opens, we will have $1 billion turnover with Turkey, not current $150 million, and the prices will drop,” said politician.

Hrant Bagratian also said of number of Armenians, entering Turkey. Recently Erdogan said there are 100,000 undocumented Armenians in Turkey, while this is not a real figure, as in fact there are much more less Armenians in Turkey. According to Turkey’s National Statistics Center, 26,000 Armenians enter Turkey; however, there are not registered numbers of Armenians, who enter Turkey from other countries.