Speaking to the Anatolia news agency on Tuesday, Soyak said the Armenian institution’s statement came as a surprise to him as the TABDC’s own estimates were much more modest, at around $150 million. The World Bank, on the other hand, calculates the trade volume between the two countries to be in the ballpark of $200 million.
Turkey and Armenia do not have direct trade routes with each other due to the closed border gates because of the severe diplomatic clashes over Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region. Trade is carried out via third countries in the region such as Iran and Georgia. Therefore, the trade figures are not officially recorded by Armenia and Turkey, but instead by these third countries based on the consignment documents of the trucks that transport the export items.
“We know that the trust-based system of trade which existed in Anatolia in the past is now conducted between the businessmen of Armenia and Turkey, especially from the eastern and southeastern Anatolian regions,” Soyak noted.
Speaking about the recently prepared protocols to improve relations between the Turkey and Armenia, Soyak argued that every passing day is a delay to reaching the desired goals. “Indeed, the document was prepared with the great endeavors of numerous institutions after months of devoted work. Deferrals in the signing of these protocols are helping those who are against the protocols to bring disputed subjects back to the fore,” he said. Disputed subjects, such as the 1915 incidents and Karabakh problems are being brought to the agenda by the opposition parties in both countries, which are in return is obstructing the normalization of relations between the two countries, he explained.
