Armenian MP: Azerbaijan not ready to start reconstruction of railways

PanARMENIAN.Net - Lawmaker from the ruling Civil Contract party Eduard Aghajanian believes Azerbaijan is in no way ready to start the process of reconstruction of the railways.

New rail and road routes in the South Caucasus are expected to connect the Azerbaijani Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan with the rest of the country, for which a road will be built through the territory of Armenia. There will also be road and rail routes through the territory of Azerbaijan to connect Armenia to Russia.

Aghajanyan said in an interview with the Armenian service of RFE/RL that the Azerbaijani side's position contradicts earlier reached agreements because now they want the process to be considered within one package.

"When a trilateral meeting took place between the Prime Minister of Armenia [Nikol Pashinyan], [President of the European Council] Charles Michel and [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev, an agreement was reached that first of all a process would be launched in connection with the restoration and construction of the railways, on which there was a mutual agreement," Aghajanyan said.

"This process hasn't reached anywhere due to the fact that at the moment the Azerbaijani side has taken a position that contradicts that statement."

According to the lawmaker, often in separate meetings, which are also attended by third parties, Azerbaijan voices positions, statements and ideas, which it then refutes in official statements.