Rızanur Meral, president of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), delivered a speech titled "The Turkish Economy: EU Accession amid Global Crisis," at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars on Tuesday. He touched upon the benefits for the Turkish business sector of Ankara's "zero problem" foreign policy toward neighboring countries.
The Turkish business sector wants to develop commercial relations with Armenia, Meral said, adding they expect further progress due to the positive atmosphere between the two countries, which started with President Abdullah Gül's visit to Yerevan to watch a soccer match between the national teams of Armenia and Turkey. "We hope the US Congress will not adopt an Armenian resolution, because this may harm Turkey-Armenia rapprochement. We have already been solving our own problems," Meral said. The US-based Armenian diaspora poses the main problem concerning the issue, he said, adding: "If such resolution is not adopted, then Turkish-Armenian relations can rapidly improve in a very short time."
