The Messenger, Georgia
Feb 16 2007

Armenian minister: Abkhaz railway would help peace in the region
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)

Just a week after the signing of the agreement to construct the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway between Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, the
prospects for another regional link are again being actively
discussed.

Armenia, left out of the B-T-K railway due to the ongoing political
standoff with Turkey and Azerbaijan, is again pushing for the railway
in Abkhazia to be rehabilitated, which would provide a direct link
between Armenia and its strategic partner Russia via Georgia.

Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications, Andranik Manukyan,
reaffirmed his country’s commitment to this project in an interview
with Russian news agency Regnum on February 13.

Manukyan says he is concerned that talks on restoring the railway via
Abkhazia are stopped. He points out that the quadripartite consortium
created to restore this railway, with negotiators from Russia,
Georgia, Armenia and the de facto Abkhaz authorities, has not met
since May 2006. After some progress in the talks, the spike in
tensions between Georgia and Russia prevented any further moves
forward.

Manukyan says that this railway’s reactivation can only contribute to
the development of peace and stability in the region, as quoted by
the newspaper Rezonansi.

However, many of the problems standing in the way of the
rehabilitation of the line that stretches across breakaway Abkhazia
seem insurmountable until more progress is made on conflict
settlement. The main stumbling blocks include the return of
Internally Displaced Persons and customs check points. The Abkhaz
side insists on de facto customs officials being stationed on the
administrative border, while the Georgian side insists on Georgian
officials at the Psou checkpoint between Abkhazia and Russia, both
have so far been unwilling to compromise.

This project has as much strategic significance as the B-T-K, because
it would provide a direct link between Russia, Armenia and thence
Iran-giving the possibility for Georgia to become a hub for both
east-west and north-south transport corridors.

According to the Armenian minister, Iran and Armenia are conducting
negotiations about constructing a railway to connect Yerevan and
Iran.

"This project launch took place in Tehran in 2006," Manukyan told
Regnum.