Arka News Agency, Armenia
Jan 19 2007

ARMENIA CAN BECOME MAJOR GEOPOLITICAL PLAYER IN REGION THROUGH
COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA, IRAN

YEREVAN, January 19. /ARKA/. Armenia can become a major geopolitical
player in the region through cooperation with Russia and Iran, said
Hayk Babukhanyan, the chairman of the "Union of Constitutional Right"
(UCR) Party.
According to Barkhudaryan, Armenia found itself in a complete
isolation from the regional projects, in particular from the
Baku-Tbilisi-Jeykhan oil pipeline. "We need an alternative to oppose
it to the Baku-Tbilisi-Jeykhan," Babukhanyan said.
According to him, the alternative is extension of the Iran-Armenia
gas pipeline to Russia and further establishment of a trilateral
consortium on its management.
"We should not pin all our hopes on the road through Georgia: we do
have a real opportunity to arrange communication with Russia
otherwise," Babukhanyan said. According to him, the
Astrakhan-Iran-Armenia direction can become one of the options. N.V.
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