IT IS NOT EXCLUDED THAT ARMENIA MAY JOIN KATB PROJECT, POLITICIAN STEPAN GRIGORIAN BELIEVES
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Feb 14 2007
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The first and main reason
of implementation of the project on construction of the railway
transport corridor Kars-Akhaklakal-Tbilisi-Baku is in coinciding
of interests of the participant-countries: Turkey, Azerbaijan and
Georgia. Stepan Grigorian, the Board Chairman of the Analytical Center
for Globalization and Regional Cooperation stated about it in the
interview to the Noyan Tapan correspondent.
The second very important factor is that those countries have common
land borders what makes the project self-sufficient. And the third
reason is in the global and regional policy, carried out by Russia,
its striving for pressing upon their neighbors what makes the latters
diversify not only the ways of delivery of energy carriers but also
of transport communication. The fact that all the communications in
the region, including the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, connect South
Caucasus with North, but not with Russia, is explained by this.
Besides, in the politician’s words, Europe and the U.S., worried
about the policy of Russia, also start seriously thinking not only
of issues of diversifying ways of delivery of energy carriers, but
also of ways of good deliverty.
In S.Grigorian’s words, at the moment implementation of the KATB
project is not aimed against anybody, including Armenia. "One must
not forget that Georgia and Azerbaijan display much more initiative
in participation in the regional programs than Armenia. For example,
Armenia could be more active in the issue that Iran-Armenia gas
pipeline becomes transit one," S.Grigorian stated.
At the same time, he did not exclude that Armenia has chances "to
join the existing schemes," including the KATB project as well.
Particularly, one must not exclude that Turkey, under the influence of
the U.S. and European Union, "may start inside this three stimulation
of discussion on Armenia’s joining the project."