ARMENIA WILL CLAIM FOR OPENING BORDER WITH TURKEY AND ESTABLISHMENT OF BILATERAL TIES

Regnum, Russia
April 19 2007

After the ceasefire regime was established between Armenia
and Azerbaijan, within ten years Azerbaijan and its ally Turkey
expected that Armenia under being the burden of poverty and economic
stagnation would be destroyed, but this did not happen and will not
happen. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said at a session
of OSCE permanent council adding that "they taught no lesson from it."

As a REGNUM correspondent was told at press office of the
Armenian foreign ministry, the minister said that the blockade was
continuing and increasing, evidence of which is a recent document
about construction of a new railroad bypassing Armenia (Kars
(Turkey)-Akhalkalaki (Georgia)-Tbilisi-Baku – REGNUM). "We were
never hoping that new initiatives would concern us, for example,
the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline would be laid through the Armenian territory.

But it is rather strange that they can think of spending $700 mln
to $1 bln for construction of a railway only to bypass Armenia,
while there is another railroad that fulfills the same function,"
Vardan Oskanyan said and noted that the Armenian side proposed to
use the existing Kars-Gyumri-Tbilisi railway.

At that the Armenian foreign minister noted that Azerbaijan and Turkey
have not decided to meet Armenia halfway. "I reiterate, Armenia will
not be isolated, but we can be estranged. The new railway cannot harm
more than the closed border. Political atmosphere will be harmed,
and this stirs concern, but not economic profits," Vardan Oskanyan
stressed. According to him, Armenia would continue speaking for
effectiveness of the existing railroad. "we shall go further and
claim that Turkey opens the border and establish normal relations
with Armenia. We pose no pre-conditions for establishing relations
and hope that Turkey would not do it either," the Armenian foreign
minister said. He added it was last Europe’s closed border, and it
must be opened to secure a more positive involvement of Turkey in
the region and its positive contribution to settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.