February 1, 2002 - 22:28 AMT
TURKEY FORCES DECISION ON AKHALKALAKI-KARS RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION TO TOUGHEN ISOLATION OF ARMENIA
Meeting of Ministers of Transport of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia will be held at the beginning of February. The head of Turkish transport department has initiated the meeting. It is planned to discuss the question of construction of Kars-Akhalkalaki railway. Construction of the new trunk-railway is the whim of Ankara, which flatly refuses to use the existing Erzrum-Gyumri railroad to transport loads to Tbilisi and Baku. As it is known, exploitation of this railway section implies minimal transportation costs. TRASECA program, which provides for developing global transport communications, attaches much significance to Erzrum-Gyumri railroad. Building of the new trunk-railway, which would cost 800 million US dollars, aims at isolating Armenia. As it is known, all international organizations and superpowers are against it.