Armenia must open its border, says analyst

Gurgen Arsenian, the leader of the Armenian United Labour Party, thinks it is most important for his country to open its border with Turkey. He believes that the Russian attack on Georgia demonstrated that it is vitally necessary for Armenia to normalise relations with Turkey to create a healthy economic climate. “If the war had lasted ten more days the Armenian economy would have collapsed,” the analyst says.

Arsenian is sure that it is impossible for Armenia to live with closed borders, as the health of one of Armenia’s lungs is dependent on the amount of Russian tanks in it and that of the other, Iran, on the ideological turns of an Islamic Republic. Arsenian does not agree that Armenia could survive a blockade for a hundred years. “If you are blockaded for a hundred years you cease to exist,” he says.