Shuttle traders between Turkey, Armenia decry cargo price hike

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

Armenian traders, Turkish bus companies and stores in the heart of the shuttle-trade business in Istanbul are suffering from a price hike by a leading road freight company operating on the Yerevan-Istanbul route over Georgia. The dispute also reflects in prices in Armenia. Traders and bus companies are worried the continued prices could affect business

A 100 percent increase in cargo prices by the main Armenian transportation firm operating between the capital city of Yerevan and Istanbul has caused a halt in the shuttle trading between the two countries, sources said.

Armenians held demonstrations last month to protest Karlen Cargo-Transportation, a local monopoly, for raising per-kilogram cargo prices from $4 to $8 at the beginning of the year, said Maya Y., the executive of an Armenian company who declined to give his full name due to security concerns.

Armenian shuttle traders transport goods to Istanbul on buses owned by nearly 20 Turkish bus companies on a 36-hour route over Georgia due to border disputes between Turkey and Armenia. They purchase goods in Istanbul to bring back to Armenia, for which they then arrange cargo truck transport in Istanbul before they return home via the passenger buses.

Traders with budgets varying from $500 to $2,000 were able to send goods to Turkey twice a week before the price hike by the company, the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review has learnt.

“Armenians are worried and waiting for a resolution,” Maya Y. told the Daily News in an online interview.

“The mafia in Armenia has turned into a monopoly that restricts our lives,” he said. “Armenians cannot afford these high customs costs. They can hardly make a living. Life has almost stopped in the second big city of Gyumri [as the goods from the shuttle trading are not arriving].”

Textile prices have particularly skyrocketed, Maya Y. said.

Along with Karlen, three more Armenian transporters – Azad, Kaya and Çınar – also have offices at the Aksaray international bus and cargo terminal but the Daily News observed that their operations had halted.

Ruzanna Harutyunyan, an Armenian trader, said: "We cannot afford the price-per-kilogram they demand. The market suffers from the monopoly of the mafia.”

The passenger fare for buses from Istanbul to Armenia, which cooperate with the cargo carriers, is between $50 and $70.

Not only Armenian traders are affected by the price hike. Turkish bus firms and traders in Istanbul’s Beyazıt and Laleli neighborhoods, the heart of shuttle trading in Istanbul, said they have experienced great losses.

Executives of the Turkish bus firms declined to name their companies or their own identities.

Noting that he has been driving passengers to Armenia for 18 years, Ali, a driver, told the Daily News that the cargo terminal in Aksaray has turned into a “ghost town” since the price hike.

“Like the Armenians, we also suffer from the problem,” he said. “We are worried.”

According to data from the terminal officials, there were 1 million Armenian shuttle trade visits arrived in Turkey last year. Driver Ali said Armenians whose visas have expired were being sent back to their countries via Tbilisi with Georgian buses under very difficult conditions.


More than 50 trucks carry 17 tons of cargo to Armenia from Istanbul via Georgia each week, the officials told the Daily News.

Some 20 Turkish bus firms may go bankrupt if the transport dispute continues much longer. “We will be forced to close our stores if the Armenians do not keep on trading,” said Mustafa Kamiloğlu, a shop owner.

“The merchants in Laleli make their living from trading with Armenians. If this situation continues, it is inevitable that we will go into a crisis.”

Calling on the two governments to open their mutual border gates, Kamiloğlu said, “The mafia is making the use of an authority gap, and we suffer from this.”

Karlen Mıgırdiçyan, manager of Karlen, declined to respond to the Daily News on the issue.