“There is no wisdom in the abundance of words,” the people have been warning about this for over several thousand years. But nothing is changed as a result. The key issues of the social life get lost in the background of freedom of speech. The main theme of these days is the Armenian-Turkish relations. The release about the fact that Armenia and Turkey have signed two memorandums was a real surprise. It was a surprise for almost all the political forces despite the fact that everybody was aware of the pending negotiations. Nobody expected that the negotiations had run so fast. But the opinion of our political forces about the signed memorandums isn’t quite clear yet except for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Our traditional party didn’t miss the occasion and organized its regular rally with the slogan of the German fascists. Indeed the slogan was translated into Armenian and instead of Germany Armenia was noted as the priority of anything else (in Germany anybody, who states this slogan aloud, is brought to criminal responsibility). Indeed, there are objective grounds why to approach the Turkish-Armenian relations with sensibility. It is very hard to stand on the same level with a country of a thousand-year firm diplomacy. Therefore, in Armenian various legends were made about the further development of relations with Turkey. For example, they are saying that in the economic aspect our country won’t gain anything. Two-three years ago there were economists, who would persist that even after the opening of the border the trade circulation between the two countries wouldn’t increase. Then there was an opinion that the cheap Turkish goods would destroy the Armenian industry. Now this theme is becoming fashionable again. In the economy of Armenia agriculture occupies an overwhelming place. So the ones, who are against the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, start from this sector. They promise terrifying prospects to the Armenian farmers. They try to explain that the demand of the Armenian goods will decrease as it will be possible to import cheaper agricultural goods from Turkey. They don’t find it serious that Armenia is able to regulate the issue with a good customs policy. Both Armenia and Turkey have a wide experience of corruption. According to them, the centennial experience of the Turks to take and offer bribes, will allow them rapidly penetrate into the Armenian market. It is not hard to bribe the Armenian statesman. In a word, our agriculture lacks protection. The agricultural lands and production reproduction will become the property of the Turks. Besides this, they add the prospect that Armenia will become an entertainment center for the population of the eastern part of Turkey – parties, casinos, saunas and motels (as for the Iranians). The most radical opponents insist that the government has a personal interest in the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border. They claim that in this case the Turks will become the potential purchasers of the newly built elite buildings of the capital city. The Russian expression would say, “Hitchcock is on a rest.” Indeed, there are positive analyses as well. According to those, the open border with a wealthy country would deter the Armenian oligarchs from monopolies both in certain branches of economy as well as for certain goods. According to them, the healthcare sector of Armenia is the best in the region and the population of up to Van will become the clients of the Armenian doctors. In the aspect of exportation, the opening of the border will not bring any qualitative change. Our industry has very little to offer to Turkey except for human labor. The eastern part of Turkey is less developed compared to the central and western parts of Turkey. So the quality human labor has abandoned those territories. But instead, it may become attractive to Armenian laborers (constructors and engineers) with more modest salaries expectations. There are plenty of such specialists in Armenia. The most positive side of opening the border is having a new transit highway; a highway, which would enable to reduce the costs of importation and exportation. Moreover, Armenia will finally have an opportunity to be involved in regional programs by becoming a transit route. The main argument of the ones, who are against the Armenian-Turkish relations, is that Armenia is not ready yet. There is neither a decent legislative field, nor sufficient administrative skills. But the opening of the border is not an issue of one or two days. And finally the border cannot eternally stay closed. Sooner or later we should get ready for this event. In order to relieve the possible negative consequences we should have an objective to pick as much as possible from the positive side of it. At any rate, the honeymoon of Armenian-Turkish relations is launched. But everybody knows that the actual relations are formed after that.
