HistoryofTruth.com - Armenian Allegations

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU – Hurriyet Daily News

A recent reaction by Armenian tomato producers to exports from Turkey was right, still the complaints did not require a halt in imports and exports between the two countries, said Armenian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Samvel Kalstyan. As their products remained unsold, tomato producers in Armania held a protest last Friday in the Republic Square in Yerevan, the capital city, calling for a ban on tomatoes imported from Turkey.

Even though border gates between Armenia and Turkey are closed, businesspeople from both countries continue trading via Georgia.

Due to continental climate in the country, producers in Armenia are not able to plant sufficient amount of tomatoes. Tomatoes are raised only in greenhouses there.

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News, Armenian Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Samvel Kalstyan said he found the reaction of Armenian people right. “Still, the situation does not require a halt in imports and exports between the two countries.”

Kalstyan said the Georgian government imposed a quota for potatoes and grapes imported from Armenia last year. “But this situation does not require a halt in imports and exports. Imports and exports can be continued with some measures and regulations, without making producers aggrieved,” Kalstyan told the Daily News.

Gagik Makaryan, chairman of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia, who has close relations with businesspeople from Turkey since 2008, told the Daily News that reactions of Armenian producers are right. “First of all, the priority should be in Armenian producers. If not the production capacity in the country may be damaged.”

“Just like other countries, Turkey also imposes taxes and quota to its imports to not to damage its domestic market. This is normal. Otherwise, producers may be aggrieved and this causes inequality,” Makaryan said.

Farmers can obtain 70 to 80 kilograms tomatoes from one square meter land in Europe and Turkey, said Professor Antreas Melikyan from the Agrarian University in Yerevan. “But in Armenia, the production per one square meter is 20 kilograms,” Melikyan told the Daily News. “Due to difficulties and problems caused by the climate, villagers should be supported by the government.”