KARS-AKHALKALAKI-BAKU RAILWAY PROJECT IS A TOOL OF POLITICAL PRESSURE ON ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2007 17:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Kars-Akhlkalaki-Baku railway project seems
real and extremely undesirable for Armenia, director of Caucasus
analytical center Victor Yakubyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. "I
do not understand the logic of politicians and experts speaking of
its economic inexpedience. How can a railroad between Azerbaijan and
Turkey be inexpedient? It’s hard to understand. It’s obvious that the
railway will be loaded not only with freight cars but also passenger
trains," he underscored.

The project may be expensive, the security issues may bring
difficulties, but Baku and Ankara will not spare funds to connect
the railway. I’m surprised why they have not built it so far. It’s
quite another matter that it would be cheaper to resume communication
through the existing railway but, as you know, political problems
compensate economic expenses, said he.

The expert is convinced that the project is a tool of political
pressure on Armenia and it will be implemented. "As for the
U.S. position, it’s conditioned not by concerns about Armenia but
by the intrigue of the American-Turkish relations. The U.S. is not
interested in Turkey’s increasing transit potential. The project is not
profitable for Georgia either. In general, I think the strengthening
of the Azeri-Turkish ‘belt’ on Georgia’s neck is one of the urgent
challenges to the Georgian state system. Tbilisi, after protracting
the negotiations, has yielded," the expert underscored.