A delegation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Van (CCIV) visited Armenia to attend International Tourism Fair in Yerevan between May 14 and 15. Zahir Kandasoglu, Chairman of CCIV Board of Directors, said that the CCIV's trip to Armenia was a gain for the city of Van and for Turkey evaluating the trip.
"We saw similar style of living and problems which source from the lack of dialogue and cooperation between Turks and Armenians. But their hospitality showed that all those years were wasted. We are so glad about their hospitality during the fair we attended. Other than that, Armenian people were very interested about Van and Turkey. I want to thank Chairman of Union of Chambers of Armenia, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Yerevan and to the Chairman of Armenian Industrialists'and Businessmen's Association in behalf of my delegation," said he.
Stating that they signed a protocol of cooperation with Union of Chambers of Armenia and Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Yerevan, Kandasoglu said, "Our trip should be approached as an initiative that is separate from politics. We, as merchants, made discussions economical cooperation with Armenia. We are struggling to expand our commercial field. Besides, we are searching to create new markets. We are towards opening of borders and initiation of commerce. We witnessed that there is no problem between the peoples of Turkey and Armenia at all. We are towards continuation of these relations. It is up to politicians now. We hope the decision of politicians will be towards continuation of our cooperation."
Stating that they traveled Armenia through Georgia in 20 hours while it takes only 5 hours through Turkish-Armenian border, Kandasoglu said, "This undermines development of relations. We are calling our government to urgently open borders within the frames of foreign policy principle of zero problems with neighbours."
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