Turkey offers Armenia to join regional project

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey has proposed that Armenia take part in its comprehensive regional transportation project linking Europe to Asia, in case of progress in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

“We are trying to stir up the OSCE Minsk Group for the solution of the Karabakh problem. We introduced the Integrated Transportation Corridors Project to the Minsk Group in November 2012. This project is to be implemented in peace time, after the Karabakh conflict is settled,” Turkish diplomatic sources told the HDN. “We are proposing full normalization of Turkey-Armenia and Armenia-Azerbaijan ties.”

The proposed transportation project has two stages. On the one hand, it is focused on linking Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russian Federation through fixing unused railways and building new ones. Along with the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project that is expected to be concluded by the end of this year, the Turkey-Armenia railway may be reopened after just a minor rehabilitation. Parallel to the railway, a new modern highway is also being considered to further increase trade and human traffic between the two countries.

“Obviously, we are also planning to build new logistical centers and residential areas, as well as mass housing projects along these routes to create a new regional hub,” sources stressed. “The only objective of this project is to create an economic pick-up in the region, for the advantage of all countries and for the prosperity of their people.”

Sources say Azerbaijan has been informed about the project.

Armenia, however, has so far remained cool to the idea, they say.