ARMENIA OPPOSES TURKISH-GEORGIAN-AZERI RAILWAY PROJECT

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Aug 31 2005

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said on August 30 that
teh construction of Kars (Turkey)-Akhalkalaki (Georgia) railway
link, which will connect Turkey to Azerbaijan via Georgia, is
“economically senseless” as a railway between Kars-Gyumri (Armenia),
linking Turkish railway with Armenian and further with Georgia already
exists, Armenian media sources reported.

But currently the Kars-Gyumri railway is not operational because
of the trade blockade imposed on Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are in negotiations over
construction of an alternative railway between Kars and Akhalkalaki –
a southern Georgia town in the predominately ethnic Armenian region
of Samtskhe-Javakheti.

“The time will come and regional conflicts will be settled. The
borders will be opened and then we will have two parallel railways in
the region, one of which will become useless. It is not difficult to
guess which one – the one which does not yet exist,” Vardan Oskanian
said at a news briefing in Yerevan.

“We will oppose the implementation of this project… and will do so
mainly through advocating with international organizations that the
project is pointless,” the Armenian Foreign Minister said.

He also said that Armenia will lobby in favor of including the issue
of reopening borders with Armenia in Turkey’s EU accession talks.