Regional rail project feasible without US support: Turkish diplomat

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
June 23 2006

AssA-Irada 23/06/2006 09:36

A Turkish diplomat has said the decision adopted recently by the
US Congress not to back the Gars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku regional
railway project won’t impede its implementation.

"The parties to the project will be able to carry out the operations
without the aid of other countries," said the spokesman for the
Turkish Foreign Ministry, Namik Tan.

"I believe that Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia [the three countries
hosting the rail line] have sufficient funds. This means we will be
able to finance the construction on our own," Tan said, adding that
the three countries are looking to start the operations soon.

Commenting on the statements regarding Armenia’s possible involvement
in the project, the diplomat said that Turkish Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul had discussed the issue with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev. Armenia’s participation is impossible until after the Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh dispute is settled, the spokesman said.

"The question is whether or not to allow Armenia to participate in
the project after the conflict is resolved," he added.