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MINISTER: AZERBAIJAN TO NOT ALLOW ARMENIA'S PARTICIPATION IN BTK PROJECT
Trend, Azerbaijan
June 27 2013
Armenia will not be able to participate in Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway
project until it doesn't stop the occupation of Azerbaijani lands,
Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said on the eve at a meeting with his
Turkish and Georgian counterparts, Dogan agency reported on Thursday.
"Only after the end of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands Georgia,
Turkey and Azerbaijan can think on the accession of Armenia to the
participation in the project," Mammadov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding
regions of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the occupied territories.
It is planned to construct a new 105 kilometre branch railway as part
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the section of the
Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway will be reconstructed in Georgia
which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year.
It is planned to build a centre in Akhalkalaki for the transition of
trains from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European one.
Peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. This
figure will be at the level of one million passengers and 6.5 million
tons of cargo in the initial stages.
In future, with completion of the Marmara project (construction of a
tunnel under the Bosporus), access to Europe will be provided using
the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
Trend, Azerbaijan
June 27 2013
Armenia will not be able to participate in Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway
project until it doesn't stop the occupation of Azerbaijani lands,
Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said on the eve at a meeting with his
Turkish and Georgian counterparts, Dogan agency reported on Thursday.
"Only after the end of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands Georgia,
Turkey and Azerbaijan can think on the accession of Armenia to the
participation in the project," Mammadov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding
regions of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. are
currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four
resolutions on the liberation of the occupied territories.
It is planned to construct a new 105 kilometre branch railway as part
of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the section of the
Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway will be reconstructed in Georgia
which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year.
It is planned to build a centre in Akhalkalaki for the transition of
trains from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European one.
Peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. This
figure will be at the level of one million passengers and 6.5 million
tons of cargo in the initial stages.
In future, with completion of the Marmara project (construction of a
tunnel under the Bosporus), access to Europe will be provided using
the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.