Georgian-Turkish railway link would benefit the entire region – president

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
21 May 04

[Presenter] Before leaving for Istanbul, Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili held a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul in Ankara today.

The parties discussed common interests in the region and long-term
prospects, including the [proposed] construction of Kars-Batumi
railway line which caused some irritation on the of Armenia. The
president commented today on Yerevan’s reaction to the proposed
construction. Saakashvili said that, if the Georgian railways are
linked to the Turkish railways, this will benefit both Georgia,
Turkey and Armenia.

[Salome Zourabichvili, Georgian Foreign Minister, interviewed] There
was a very interesting exchange of our views that our policies in
this region are basically the same. We also share the same aspiration
towards Europe, the same desire to have normal and constructive
relations with Russia, and the same partnership with America.

[Saakashvili, interviewed] When we are talking about railways, first
of all, I care about the interests of Georgia. Georgia should extend
the railway line and link it with the Turkish railway system. If
the Turkish railway system is linked to Georgia, this will benefit
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Central Asia, and absolutely everyone. This is
certainly in the interests of the entire region. This is one thing.

Second, we should manage to turn [the Ajarian capital] Batumi airport
into an international airport like Geneva airport. This would enable
Batumi airport to provide services to passengers from the border
areas of Turkey. An international-level terminal should be created
there. There were similar plans in the past, and we should be able
to reconstruct these plans.
From: Baghdasarian