The Messenger, Georgia
Jan 24 2007

Armenia sends mixed signals on new rail link
By Christina Tashkevich

The Akhalkalaki – Tbilisi section
of the railway will have to be
completely rehabilitated

Armenia is ready to open its border with Turkey and has softened its
line on the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway project, a leading
Armenian official said last Thursday.

"There are certain problems, because Armenia and Turkey have no
diplomatic relations," Armenian deputy foreign minister Ghegam
Gharibjanyan said. "Armenia is ready to open its border with Turkey,
and is ready for counter-proposals [to its stance on the new
railway]."

The diplomat added Armenia is also ready to join the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway project, but reaffirmed Armenia’s
position.

"We already have the Kars-Gyumri-Akhalkalaki railway, which has not
been used since the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the countries
in the region gained independence," he said. "If the border between
Armenia and Turkey is opened, the railway could be opened practically
the following day." The border between Turkey and Armenia has been
closed since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the eruption of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Turkey supports Azerbaijan.
Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations with one-another.

The deputy minister says that cooperation between all countries in
the region would add to the security of the South Caucasus.

Earlier in January another Deputy Foreign Minister Aram Kirakosyan
reaffirmed Yerevan’s desire to establish diplomatic relations and
reopen the land border with Turkey. He called for Turkey to "abandon
its policy of excluding Armenia from regional projects."

Kirakosyan says the re-establishment of the Kars-Gyumri railway is a
necessity for Armenia and the region, claiming it will encourage the
turnover of goods across the region.

The head of the board of directors of Analytical Center on
Globalization and Regional Cooperation, Stepan Grigoryan, thinks that
from the economic point of view the Kars-Gyumri route is more
acceptable, as the line already exists and does not need serious
investment.

"[Trying to activate Kars-Gyumri] Armenia should work on
normalization of relations with opponents: Turkey and Armenia are not
ready to do that without preliminary conditions, also Armenian and
Azeri governments have no readiness to quickly settle Karabakh
conflict," he said.

Azeri expert Ilgar Nur thinks that the proposal to use the existing
line of Kars-Gyumri and therefore not to construct Kars-Akhalkalaki
line is unreal.

"Armenia could have proposed with the same success another existing
route: Kars-Gyumri-Yerevan-Baku, which is not working for obvious
reasons. The position of Baku is that Azerbaijan would not
participate in any joint economic projects until the occupied
territories [Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas] are liberated," he
told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Just before Armenian officials made their statements, US diplomat
Matthew Bryza requested Armenia become involved in the
Kars-Akhalkalaki trunk-railway project.

"Of course, we would like the railway, which connects Turkey with
Baku, to pass through Armenia, though if Azerbaijan, Turkey and
Georgia want to construct a railway, of course, we cannot object. But
we do not particularly support that project," he said.

Chief of the Georgian Railway, Irakli Ezugbaia, went to Baku on
January 23 to discuss the technical details of the
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi project, while the meeting of foreign
affairs ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow was also
scheduled on January 23.