The railway across Armenia is dangerous in itself
December in Brussels during a trilateral meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikola Pašinjan, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and European Council President Charles Michel. Armenia has confirmed its commitment to build a railway on its territory. We recall that the railway with Azerbaijan and Turkey was terminated during the first war in Karabakh in the 1990s.
Photo: president.az
Today, the current level crossing in Armenia is maintained only with Georgia. However, direct rail communication with Russia through Georgia is also impossible, as the Yerevan-Tbilisi-Sukhum-Adler branch is blocked in Abkhazia due to the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Communication between the Russian Federation and Armenia takes place through the territory of Georgia and from there ferries across the Black Sea. This is, of course, inconvenient for both Russia and Armenia, but unblocking this railway line is only possible with Abkhazia's consent.
Aram Sargsyan, Chairman of the Democratic Party of Armenia, comments on the situation :
– Negotiations to unblock communication have been going on for a long time. But they could not agree, because the interests of the parties are the opposite. It is very advantageous for Armenia to unblock the railway via Georgia and Abkhazia to Russia. We need access to Russia. Then it would be possible to open the second road from Turkey: Kars-Gyumri, then Nachichevan and Azerbaijan.
But if we are talking about the fact that only the road connecting Turkey, Nachichevan and Azerbaijan is open, then this raises some concerns, as we find ourselves in a “Turkish sack”. The Turks on both sides will have the situation under control.
– In Soviet times, trains ran on the Yerevan-Baku and Yerevan-Tbilisi routes. The Russian Federation could be reached via both Georgia and Azerbaijan. Before Turkey announced the blockade of Armenia, the old road from Kars to Gyumri was in operation. Then the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku branch was built, which bypassed Armenia. But that is clearly not enough for them. The Turks are therefore working hard to open a corridor through the Armenian region of Syunik to connect Azerbaijan with Nachichevan. It is now being considered to open a road from Turkey, from Kars via Gyumri to Nakhichevan and then again through Armenian territory – the Syunik area – to Azerbaijan. In this case, Armenia has the opportunity to enter Iran.
In 1998, when I was an adviser to the President of Armenia, my group worked on a direct railway project that would transport European cargo through Ukraine, Russia, Abkhazia and Georgia, Armenia, Nachichevan to Iran and from there to the Gulf port. When Armenia submitted such a proposal, the project aroused great interest from all partners, including China. Because via Tehran it would be possible to go to Ashgabat and from there – the road to China. Then during the week, 14 foreign ambassadors came to my reception. Everyone was in favor, except Britain. At a meeting with me, the British ambassador asked if we would agree that this route would not lead through Russia, but through Istanbul. I said that we would agree if the railways in the direction of Russia operated in parallel. The program was stopped. The British managed to slow down this project.
– Because it does not want Russia's presence in the region.
– About the partial unblocking of the railway. At the same time, Armenia will have access to the Russian Federation via Azerbaijan. Today, it is impossible to imagine that a passenger train from Yerevan will be able to travel through the territory of Azerbaijan to Russia. This means that this is not the solution to our problem. Only the part of the road that must pass through Nakhichevan towards Iran remains. I don't know how safe it will be for us. We can say that this project is only beneficial for Turkey and Azerbaijan, because it allows them to implement their Panture plans. You know that the Treaty establishing the Union of Turkish States was signed in Istanbul, which includes 6 countries, including Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. They need geographical unification and only Armenia stands in their way. This means opening a railway from Turkey to Azerbaijan. A new geopolitical pole is forming before our eyes – the Turkish world, which can destabilize the situation in a very large region.