Armenia aims to restore railway link with Turkey
The Russian Railways company that owns Armenia`s
railways reportedly plans to buy 120 carriages and locomotives from
Poland to be used on a rail line linking the South Caucasus
republic with Turkey, which remains shut due to the lack of a
transport link between the two countries who face long-standing
differences.
Moreover, the Russian company intends to begin building a logistics center near the Armenian town of Gumri, located close to the Turkish border, Polish media reported. The reports also linked the plan to a recent visit by Ashot Galoyan, the Armenian ambassador to Poland, to a plant manufacturing freight carriages in the Polish industrial town of Poznan.
Armenia`s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the reports, saying the envoy`s visit aimed to expand economic cooperation. But Russian Railways did not rule out such a plan. It said that once the Turkish-Armenian border is open, it would be possible to arrange freight train traffic between the two countries in only two days.
Turkey and Armenia have been involved in decades of hostility and their shared border has been shut since 1993 due to Armenia`s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and its claims on the 1915 genocide in Ottoman Turkey. However, signs of a warming in bilateral relations have lately been seen.
Armenian experts have already begun estimating the potential inflow of investments and the reduction in domestic transportation costs, if the railway with Turkey becomes a reality. Some have gone as far as speculating on the losses that will possibly be sustained by Azerbaijan and Georgia, the neighboring South Caucasus republics.
Some analysts claim that the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway, which links Azerbaijan and Turkey through Georgian territory, will lose its importance, and its construction will bog down due to the planned opening of another regional rail line - the above-mentioned railway, which extends from Gumri to Gars, Turkey.
Moreover, the Russian company intends to begin building a logistics center near the Armenian town of Gumri, located close to the Turkish border, Polish media reported. The reports also linked the plan to a recent visit by Ashot Galoyan, the Armenian ambassador to Poland, to a plant manufacturing freight carriages in the Polish industrial town of Poznan.
Armenia`s Foreign Ministry has dismissed the reports, saying the envoy`s visit aimed to expand economic cooperation. But Russian Railways did not rule out such a plan. It said that once the Turkish-Armenian border is open, it would be possible to arrange freight train traffic between the two countries in only two days.
Turkey and Armenia have been involved in decades of hostility and their shared border has been shut since 1993 due to Armenia`s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and its claims on the 1915 genocide in Ottoman Turkey. However, signs of a warming in bilateral relations have lately been seen.
Armenian experts have already begun estimating the potential inflow of investments and the reduction in domestic transportation costs, if the railway with Turkey becomes a reality. Some have gone as far as speculating on the losses that will possibly be sustained by Azerbaijan and Georgia, the neighboring South Caucasus republics.
Some analysts claim that the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway, which links Azerbaijan and Turkey through Georgian territory, will lose its importance, and its construction will bog down due to the planned opening of another regional rail line - the above-mentioned railway, which extends from Gumri to Gars, Turkey.
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