Giving an interview to Zaman newspaper, co-founder and co-chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business Development Council (TABDC), Kaan Soyak said that huge markets in the world have shifted to the east and the region will turn into a trade center with the opening of Turkey-Armenia border. “Chairmen of the Chambers of Commerce in Eastern Anatolia should call their fellow citizens to make investment to their city,” said he.
Kaan Soyak said that permanent peace should be established in Caucasus for the security of energy pipelines in the region and for the security of the international commerce. Reminding that Turkey and Armenia signed protocols towards normalization of relations between two countries, co-chairman TABDC said that they are expecting for protocols to be ratified by the parliaments of Turkey and Armenia.
Stressing that there are circles that have interests over the conflicts between Turkey and Armenia, Soyak said that Turkey should take part in the process of resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh problem actively as it normalizes its relations with Armenia.
Reacting to the attitude of Azerbaijan against Turkey-Armenia rapprochement, Soyak said, “Although government informed Azerbaijan on every step in the process of normalization of relations with Armenia, Azerbaijani government believed that resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh problem will not be able to be solved by keeping the state borders with Armenia closed.”
Soyak said that ultranationalist Armenians in Armenian diaspora also resist the protocols and call for abandoning protocols because of the content of agreement on establishment of a joint committee of historians to make researches on 1915 incidents.
Stating that the number of people who demand a peace between Turkey and Armenia are more than the ones who are against rapprochement, Soyak said that majority of Armenian diaspora does not share the opinion of ultranationalists and they believe in Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other Turkish Foreign Ministry officials. “We believe that the peace will be established this time,” said he.
