Armenian MP’s Artzvik Minasyan and Vardan Ayvazyan today debated the economic merits or pitfalls of the reopening of the border with Turkey. Mr. Minasyan, speaking on behalf of the ARF, stated that the party had drawn up an economic analysis of what would happen if the borders were to be reopened and that it contained several key issues that needed to be addressed first. "Turkish society is three times richer and to speak of equitable relations is dangerous. Secondly there’s the problem that we don’t have system that ensures a competitive field for domestic producers; which exists in Turkey. Then too, Turkey has placed certain restrictions on what types of property foreign nationals can purchase. Sadly, here in Armenia, such laws don’t exist," Mr. Minasyan noted. Vardan Ayvazyan was of the opinion that just by the reopening of the border Armenia’s gross domestic revenue would increase by 3% and exports by 30%. "Today, is the border with Turkey closed in the economic sense? Aren’t there Turkish goods coming here and don’t we export there? Now, we have an opportunity to realize this with more economically beneficial conditions. Today, there is about $130 million in circulation and we can greatly increase this by circumventing the fees and delays at the Georgian border," said Mr. Ayvazyan.