Armenian economist warns against banning Turkish imports

19:39 • 02.05.16

Economy

In an interview with Tert.am, the dean of the Yerevan State University’s Department of International Economic Relations addressed the recent public calls for banning Turkish imports, commenting on the effectiveness of such a move, and possible implications.

Atom Margaryan, who holds a doctor's degree in economics, pointed out to the equivocal effects of sanctions, which he said cannot unconditionally have a positive outcome for different states.

“The language of sanctions is ambiguous in general. That’s to say, if you enforce a measure against manufacturers in one country, that has a boomerang effect. So you have to be ready for counter-steps. Countries normally do not trade with each other when they are at war. We are not at war with Turkey at least, so sanctions of the kind are not probably to the point when they become a state policy - given especially that our borders with that country are close.”

“As for the calls for boycotting Turkish products, they are certainly very reasonable. The arguments cited in such cases have to do with the products’ quality and security, especially when it comes to foods. But I think the problem here is not about the products, but rather - the agencies responsible for control and the appropriate implementation of the corresponding standards and mechanisms and, why not, also corruption restriction. So those are requirements to be submitted to those agencies to raise the standards and the control mechanism and rule out poor quality products and foods’ entry across the border – not only from Turkey but also the rest of the countries,” he said.

The economist admitted that Turkish products have been considerably represented on Armenia’s market over the past decades despite the closed border. “Yes, the trade turnover decreased to an extent – about 40% - last year, but in the long-term [analysis], we see it was tangible in the past decades,” he said, admitting further that imports have outnumbered the exports.

Asked whether he thinks that the Russian propaganda could have provoked anti-Turkish sentiments in Armenia, discouraging domestic importers from continuing the trade with Turkey, Margaryan said the definitely sees the traces of such a propaganda machine. “That simply is absolutely visible. Russia itself, as a big country which has even a historical confrontation with Turkey, suffers big losses because of those sanctions and counter-sanctions. I can add to this the well-known saying that ‘what is permissible for Jove is not permissible for an ox’. It isn’t permissible to be inspired with other countries’ models, suspicious policies, and the deplorable situation that we see along the borders with our neighbor - especially the one on the right [Azerbaijan] - and take such a step, relying on the justification that ‘we reinforce Turkey’s military-industrial complex by purchasing Turkish products.’ Those are trifling – we can say even small – flows in terms of securing profit, whereas the losses may be very painful for both the importers, and the population and consumers; and why not also our budget, as the imported products’ value-added tax remains in Armenia and the corresponding taxes which are charged go to the state budget, generating funds for our army and defense. This is something that mustn’t be forgotten. Unilateral approaches are simply unacceptable,” the economist added.