While several Armenian communities outside Armenia have called for a boycott of Turkish goods, some of which are sold in retail stores owned by Armenians, Turkish-made goods are still available in Armenia, even though some stores have puled such items from their shelves.

The ongoing fighting along the Artsakh-Azerbaijan border and Ankara’s backing of Baku, has spurred the boycott calls.

Armenia’s Ministry of Economy has now submitted a bill for public discussion that proposes to temporarily ban the importation of a host of Turkish-made goods to Armenia.

The list of prohibited items is wide, from food, household items to clothing (you can see the menu in the app under the project).

The ban on the import of goods of Turkish origin not only imposes an economic sanction on Turkey, but also, from a security standpoint, suspends finances flowing from Armenian sources to the Turkish state treasury.

"With their calls of provocation, the Turkish authorities are undermining stability in the region by supplying arms to Azerbaijan and transferring mercenaries to the region, undermining the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs," the draft reads.

Since Azerbaijan’s attack on Artsakh on September 27, public anger in Armenia has led to calls for a nation-wide boycott of Turkish goods. Many stores in Yerevan are awash with Turkish made goods, ranging from clothes to household goods.

Similar actions took place in Armenia after the April 2016 war. Despite periodic calls in Armenia to restrict the sale of Turkish goods, legislation to this effect has never been drafted.  

The Ministry of Economy says the banned goods will be easily replaced through imports from other markets to Armenia or due to local production

See: Purging Armenia of Turkish Goods: The Prospects and Pitfalls of a Nationwide Boycott

Armenia imports much more from Turkey than it exports.

According to the Statistical Committee of Armenia, in the first half of this year, Armenia exported $374,000 worth of goods to Turkey, 72.3% less than in the same period last year. In the same six months, Armenia imported about $99 million worth of goods from Turkey, which is 14.5% less than in the first half of last year.

An analysis of Armenian Customs Service data shows that Armenia imports more than 700 diversified items from Turkey, ranging from clothes, shoes, oil products to household goods, construction materials, etc. Both finished products and raw materials for various local products are imported.

In the first half of this year, the top ten products imported from Turkey to Armenia were knitwear, citrus fruits, petroleum products, fabric wallpaper, detergents, wood-fiber boards, shoe-making products, aluminum calipers.

The bill must first be submitted to the government for approval and then debated and voted on in the parliament. If adopted, the six month ban could start as early as December 31, 2020.