Gallop poll: 40% of Armenians want to leave their country - highest out of 12 post-Soviet countries

[Musso]

I don't think we need to deport them although they are illegals. Most are fine people and only come to work but the border still should be closed down until Azerbaijan finish its business with Armenia. One improvement we can implement: we should block all money transfers from Turkey to Armenia out of solidarity for Azerbaijan. If they illegally come to Turkey to work and earn money, they should spend it in Turkey.

Well you have many Armenian businessmen going back and forth from Turkey and Armenia, same with Turkish businessmen going back and forth from Armenia...you'd have to block that too.

[Onur]

Just change ''70,000'' with ''4 millions'' and ''Turkey'' with ''Germany'', and yes, i would agree with you.

There are no illegal Turkish citizens in Germany. All of them are legally living in there. but all the 70.000 Armenians in Turkey are ILLEGAL MIGRANTS!

Well you have many Armenian businessmen going back and forth from Turkey and Armenia, same with Turkish businessmen going back and forth from Armenia...you'd have to block that too.

Wtf you talking about? Show me a single example of Turkish investment in Armenia. There is no such thing.

[The Lawspeaker]

Much more efficient to fix naturalization laws.

That will be step nr. 2. First we have to make sure that you can't come in.

[gregorius]

That will be step nr. 2. First we have to make sure that you can't come in.

Waarom probeer je constant op de man af te gaan? Er zijn amper armenen in Nederland en degenen die er zijn trappen geen rotzooi. Armeense migratie naar Europa is erg klein overigens meesten gaan naar Rusland of de VS.

[Musso]

Wtf you talking about? Show me a single example of Turkish investment in Armenia. There is no such thing.

I am talking about business relationships which make business contacts between the two sides:

The 4th Armenian-Turkish business conference has opened in Yerevan on Friday.

Arsen Ghazaryan, President of the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia (UMB(E)A), told journalists that the union succeeded in establishing new contacts with Turkish businessmen and is trying to “circumvent the unofficial embargo.”

“We are trying to prove the mutual benefits of legalized trade and investment environment,” Ghazaryan said.

He noted that businessmen from eastern Anatolia (western Armenia) are participating in the business forum.

“Developing ties with their neighbors is of vital importance for them. We are happy that our partners go on following this principle in the hope that the Turkish authorities will one day come to realize their own economic interests,” Ghazaryan said.

He hopes that Turkey will one day express its willingness to establish good neighborly relations with Armenia without any preconditions.

Ghazaryan said that Turkish exports in Armenia’s market total 150-200 million USD against 10-20 million USD worth Armenian products in Turkey.

Kadri Salaz, President of the Van Young Businessmen Association, expressed hope that the development of Armenian-Turkish trade and economic ties despite closed borders will have its impact on foreign policy and relaxation in approaches.

“The present political situation does not allow Turkish businessmen to do anything. We will do our best to develop trade relations with our Armenian brothers,” he said.

“We want to organize trade relations with Armenia just as we do it with Western nations,” Salaz said.

“We do not think there is any difference between Armenians, Turks or Kurds. We will do our utmost for the authorities to start thinking of re-opening the borders after they see our good relations,” Sait Biner, a member of the Hayaniz Kurdish organization, said.

The 4th Armenian-Turkish business forum will last for two days.

he two-day forum was organized by Armenia’s leading business association and the Chamber of Commerce of Diarberkir, the largest city in eastern Turkey, as part of a project to improve Turkish-Armenian relations financed by the U.S. government’s Agency For International Development (USAID).

Most of its 50 or so Turkish participants represented businesses operating in Diarbekir and nearby regions located not far from the Turkish-Armenian border. Many of them called for the quick opening of the frontier, something which the Turkish government makes conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“We have long been lobbying for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border,” said Diadin Gezer, deputy chairman of the Diarbekir Chamber of Commerce. “Countries around the world do at least 60 percent of their trade with their neighbors.”

Gezer and other entrepreneurs agreed that Turkish-Armenian commercial ties can grow even in the absence of diplomatic relations and an open border between the two estranged nations. Firat Aslan, a chocolate manufacturer from Diarberkir, said this would only facilitate the eventual normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

“If Turkish-Armenian economic relations develop, then pressure on the two states will grow and they will open the border,” Aslan told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

A memorandum of understanding signed by Gezer and Arsen Ghazarian, chairman of the Armenian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, envisages that the two business groups will promote direct links between their members and greater commerce between the two neighboring states.


Armenia - Turkish and Armenian businesswomen at a conference in Yerevan, 22Nov2011.
With Ankara keeping the border closed since 1993, the bulk of Turkish-Armenian trade is carried out via Georgia. According to official Armenian statistics, it grew by almost 19 percent to $168.8 million in the first nine months of this year.

Turkish exports to Armenia accounted for over 99 percent of this figure because of Ankara’s unofficial ban on imports of goods from Armenia. Businesspeople say Armenian products are usually re-exported to the Turkish market through Georgia and other third countries.

Speaking at the Yerevan conference, Noyan Soyak, an Istanbul-based businessman affiliated with the Turkish-Armenian Business Council (TABC), estimated the annual volume of bilateral commerce at around $300 million. He said this figure can quickly be tripled.

Founded in the early 1990s, the TABC is the only organization uniting Turkish and Armenian businesspeople. Its Turkish members also favor an unconditional normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties.

Participants spent the first day of the conference introducing their firms and promoting their products. “We have come here to invite Armenian entrepreneurs to Turkey and foster exchange of Armenian and Turkish goods,” said Gafur Turkay, an ethnic Armenian executive of a Diarbekir-based insurance firm.

Some Armenian manufacturers are already involved in such exchange. Samvel Gasparian said his Artsocks textile company has imported Turkish raw materials for the past three years. “Since this sector is very developed in Turkey … we should look into their experience and find partners there,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

Another businessman, Gagik Bostanjian, said his Lux shoe company mainly imports shoe components from Russia and would like to find cheaper suppliers in Turkey.

As part of the USAID project implemented by several Armenian non-governmental organizations, the business forum will be followed by a Turkish-Armenian trade exhibition in Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri. About 80 Armenian and Turkish firms will display their products there on Thursday.

http://www.tabdc.org/

Information and Assistance Center for Armenian and Turkish Entrepreneurs (ICE) assists Armenian and Turkish entrepreneurs in starting and developing their business in Armenia and in Turkey.

ICE works to increase awareness of Armenian and Turkish businessmen about potential opportunities in particular industries.

ICE makes available listings of interested companies from both countries with their products, services and contacts.

ICE helps create trading and manufacturing joint ventures, subsidiaries, enterprises in sectors that have potential for cooperation and development.

ICE generates information on economic sectors and companies in specific geographic regions and their potential.

ICE promotes environment of trust in business and boosts trade and investments toward a successful common future.

Establishment of ICE is supported by the USAID-funded Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement Project (SATR) implemented by Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia, Yerevan Press Club, and International Center for Human Development.

http://www.armturkbusiness.org/

http://armturkdialogue.files.wordpre...report_eng.pdf

[Musso]

That will be step nr. 2. First we have to make sure that you can't come in.

Well obviously such a "fence" is out of the question, so how do you make sure they don't come in?

[The Lawspeaker]

Waarom probeer je constant op de man af te gaan? Er zijn amper armenen in Nederland en degenen die er zijn trappen geen rotzooi. Armeense immigratie naar Europa is erg klein overigens meesten gaan naar Rusland of de VS.

Het is niet per se tegen de Armeniërs gericht maar eerder tegen al die immigranten uit al die bananenrepublieken die hier steun komen trekken en hier de crimineel uit komen hangen. Zoals de Polen, de Roemenen, de Joegoslaven, de Turken, de Marokkanen, de Somaliërs. We zitten al hartstikke vol. 17 miljoen mensen. Moet je er echt nog een paar bij hebben ? Ik weet dat het in Groningen nog lekker rustig is maar dat is hier in de Randstad wel anders..

[The Lawspeaker]

Well obviously such a "fence" is out of the question, so how do you make sure they don't come in?

Just by having that fence built. Israel built once.. and so can we.

[Musso]

Just by having that fence built. Israel built once.. and so can we.

Israel's border is nothing compared to the fence you wanted to build...from the North pole? Is that even financially possible? Plus you would probably have to hire those illegals that you want to keep out in order to keep such a project remotely affordable.

[gregorius]

Het is niet per se tegen de Armeniërs gericht maar eerder tegen al die immigranten uit al die bananenrepublieken die hier steun komen trekken en hier de crimineel uit komen hangen. Zoals de Polen, de Roemenen, de Joegoslaven, de Turken, de Marokkanen, de Somaliërs. We zitten al hartstikke vol. 17 miljoen mensen. Moet je er echt nog een paar bij hebben ? Ik weet dat het in Groningen nog lekker rustig is maar dat is hier in de Randstad wel anders..

Ik ben het met je eens, maar er wonen amper 10 000 armenen in Nederland waarvan een overgrote deel geen rotzooi trapt. Dat is anders met de andere bevolkingsgroepen die jij opnoemt in dezelfde rijtje met de Armeniërs. In deze draad doel jij wel specifiek op de Armeniërs wat gewoon nergens voor nodig is.