ArmInfo.Today, the opening of the border with Turkey will deal a serious blow to Armenia's agriculture, as our economies compete with each other. This was stated by the second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian, at a meeting with his supporters.
"We can't say that closed borders are a good thing. That's not good. And we can't say everywhere that keeping borders closed is good. But one thing is clear: today, the opening of the border with Turkey will deal a serious blow to our agricultural production, as our economies compete with each other. They do not complement each other, but rather compete. It is obvious that Turkey's agriculture is in a better position with its large volumes and large government subsidies, which are incomparable with ours, " Kocharyan stated. He criticized the abolition of the Ministry of Agriculture, which made the sphere ownerless. Moreover, as Kocharyan stressed, the population of the Ararat Valley will be in a terrible situation when the border with Turkey is opened, since the products grown by them will not withstand the price competition with the Turkish one. According to him, before opening the border, it is necessary to increase the productivity of its own agricultural sector for several years, and to bring the level of subsidies to the same as that of a competitor. Therefore, the priority should be to protect our own market and the population.
At the same time, Kocharyan believes that before opening the borders, one should ask the question - in whose favor is the balance of intermediary trade between Armenia and Turkey, and what is the ratio of what Armenia will be able to export to Turkey, how much will its volume increase. "I am sure that it will be the opposite, the volume of imported products from Turkey will significantly increase and will crush the local producer," Kocharyan concluded.
