Armenia: Turkish Economic Blockade
House of Lords
Lord Hylton (Crossbench)
asked Her Majesty's Government:
When they last made representations to the government of Turkey about the economic blockade of Armenia; what was the outcome of that discussion; and when they will next raise the issue.
Lord Triesman (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Foreign & Commonwealth Office; Labour)
The issue was discussed by Sir Brian Fall, the UK Special Representative for the South Caucasus, during his visit to Ankara in April. The Turkish Government explained that the closed border is linked to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. We hope that negotiations to resolve the conflict under the auspices of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is active in conflict prevention, crisis management, human rights, democracy OSCE Minsk Group will be successful.
The UK Government do not take the view that the closed border with Turkey constitutes an economic blockade on Armenia. There are regular direct flights between Armenia and Istanbul and bilateral trade between the two countries.