Nvard Davtyan
“Radiolur”
The petition launched on the White House website, which urges to open the Armenian-Turkish border for Syrian Armenians, is still open for signing. The author of the initiative is Daniel Ioannisyan. He’s a member of the Heritage Party, but it was his personal initiative. The petition has been signed by 534 so far.
“Everyone irrespective of the nationality and citizenship can join the initiative. The deadline is February 4th,” Daniel Ioannisyan told reporters today.
He stressed the importance of the petition, as it will be easier for Syrian Armenians to move to the motherland through the Armenian-Turkish border.
“In case the Margara checkpoint at the Armenian-Turkish border opens, it will be possible to cross the distance from Aleppo to Yerevan in 8-10 hors,” he said.
Expert of Turkish studies Artak Shakaryan described the initiative as interesting, but risky. “It provides another opportunity to speak about the Armenian-Turkish issues, which are not restricted to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”
However, according to Shakaryan, the initiative raises a number of questions. Is Armenia ready for the opening of the Armenian Turkish border even in this restricted context? Are our migration services ready to accept all refugees, Arabs among them?
The author of the initiative has not discussed the issue with the authorities. He says it’s simply necessary to withstand the challenges. As for Arab refugees, he says Armenia is not that attractive to them, at least because of the language difficulties. Ioannisyan is confident his initiative will benefit the country, if correctly used by our diplomacy.
