THE RAILWAY WILL NOT BYPASS ARMENIA

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[01:01 pm] 22 September, 2006

Washington, DC – The Armenian Assembly today praised a key Senate
committee for affirming U.S policy in the South Caucasus by prohibiting
funding for a bypass rail link sponsored by the Turkish and Azerbaijani
governments and aimed at excluding Armenia from economic and regional
transportation opportunities.

"Armenia is a valued friend of the United States and our government
ought not to be supporting programs or initiatives in the South
Caucasus that exclude that country from participation," said
Santorum. "The manager’s amendment adopted today by the Committee on
Banking will make sure such a scenario does not happen."

"We cannot continue to stoke the embers of regional conflict by
supporting projects that deliberately exclude one of the region’s most
important members," said Menendez. "Fundamentally, this amendment is
about fairness and about inclusion, rather than exclusion.

With this amendment, we are sending a simple message — that we believe
that the United States should support an integrated and inclusive
approach to economic and regional development in the Caucasus region."