ARMENIA SOLD ITS LOYALTY CHEAP

Lragir, Armenia
Aug 27 2007

After the construction of Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad the
Kars-Gyumri railroad will become moot, and Armenia will have to join
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railroad to relieve its isolation. On
August 27 the president of the Union of Political Scientists Hmayak
Hovanisyan offered this evaluation at the Friday press club. He
views the issue in the context of Armenia’s stance on the Russian
and Georgian tensions.

"In its relations with Georgia Armenia was unable to sell its loyalty
expensive," Hmayak Hovanisyan says. According to him, it was necessary
to show to Georgia that Armenians display good faith and do not give
rise to a separatist movement in Javakheti, therefore Georgia must
refuse to join Kars-Akhalkalaki, which is not in Armenia’s interests.

Hmayak Hovanisyan says this program is already under implementation,
and the West only formally criticized it not to scare Armenia. Hmayak
Hovanisyan says if the United States hinted to Sahakashvili that
it is against the construction of Kars-Akhalkalaki, Georgia would
decline to join this project.