HOUSE BILL SEEKS TO BLOCK US AID FOR RAILROAD PROJECT EXCLUDING
ARMENIA
WASHINGTON, JULY 21, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The Armenian
National Committee of America (ANCA) welcomes the introduction of
legislation in the House of Representatives prohibiting
U.S. assistance for the building of railroads traversing the Caucasus
that circumvent Armenia. The measure, entitled the “South Caucasus
Integration and Open Railroads Act of 2005,” is being introduced by
Congressman Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and George
Radanovich (R- CA). “We welcome this effort to protect U.S. taxpayers
from subsidizing an ill-advised and over-priced railroad project that
– at the insistence of Turkey and Azerbaijan – has been designed to
exclude Armenia,” said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the
ANCA. “Constructing this railroad around Armenia runs directly counter
to U.S. foreign policy and – as if that wasn’t bad enough – makes
absolutely no financial sense – which is precisely why its sponsors
will surely turn to the American taxpayer to foot the bill.” The text
of the legislation notes “the exclusion of Armenia from regional
economic and commercial undertakings in the South Caucasus undermines
the United States policy goal of promoting a stable and cooperative
environment in the region.” In its operative section, the legislation
prohibits U.S. assistance “to develop or promote any rail connections
or railway-related connections that do not traverse or connect with
Armenia, but do traverse or connect Baku, Azerbaijan; Tbilisi,
Georgia; and Kars, Turkey.” Specific forms of U.S. assistance
prohibited would include: foreign economic and development aid,
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Trade and Development Agency,
and the Export-Import Bank. The ANCA raised this issue publicly as
early as June 10th of this year when Communications Director Elizabeth
S. Chouldjian posed a question to the Foreign Minister of Armenia,
Vardan Oskanian, during his briefing at a National Press Club.
Minister Oskanian expressed the Armenian government’s “concern about
this recent consideration by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey to build
a new railroad from Kars to Tbilisi, linking to an existing
Azerbaijani line. They are planning on spending something from $600
million to $1 billion to put that railroad in place. The problem is
that there is such a railroad in the region. There is an existing
Kars, Gumri, which is an Armenian city, Tbilisi, and next to
Azerbaijan. The railroad is sitting there, rusting now for fifteen
years, because Turkey, for political reasons, does not allow the
trains to cross the Turkish Armenian border. Now, having that in place
and thinking of building a new one and spending $600 million is
nonsense.” He closed his comments, by stressing that, “It is in no
one’s interest – not the U.S. or European Union or the countries
involved. I have raised this issue with the Administration and they
understand, they promised to follow this, and to try to talk them out
of engaging in this type of senseless, useless activity.” In May of
this year, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev, Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili, and Turkey’s President Akhmed Nedget
Sezer announced their intention to construct the railway corridor
linking Turkey, Tbilisi, and Baku. The project would effectively
replace the Kars-Gyumri railroad route, which has been blockaded by
Turkey for more than a decade. The governmental and commercial
interests involved in the project, estimated at between $600 million
and $1 billion, will almost certainly turn to the U.S. government for
financial support, subsidies, favorable lending terms, and low-cost
risk insurance, as they did for the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline
route.