Azerbaijan to bar transit cargoes to Armenia across its territory
By Sevindzh Abdullayeva, Viktor Shulman
ITAR-TASS News Agency
December 17, 2004 Friday
BAKU, December 17 — Problems on the border between Azerbaijan and
Georgia will be settled when “we are fully certain that not a single
gram of cargoes is transited to Armenia”, said on Friday Azerbaijan
President Ilkham Aliev, speaking in an interview with reporters. He
commented on the situation on the border between the two countries,
where a great number of trains with oil, petroproducts, grain and other
goods congregated over inspections of wagons with transit cargoes.
The head of state noted that as a result of smuggling operations,
falsification and swindling with cargoes, passing across the Azerbaijan
territory to Georgia, “a possibility emerged to sidetrack some of
them to Armenia”. “We have put an end to this and will not permit
such actions at any price,” the president emphasized.
He added that the border with Georgia would open if “a normal regime
of work is established there, otherwise it will remain closed”.
Aliev noted that Azerbaijan’s actions find understanding with the
Georgian leadership. “We understand that this is detrimental to
Azerbaijan and to Georgia to a certain degree, but there is no other
way out,” he stated.
Speaking of relations with Georgia, Aliev said that “there are some
forces, wishing to inflict damage on us”. “We know what these forces
are. They are inside Azerbaijan, but they concentrate mostly outside,”
the Azerbaijan leader continued. “We shall not permit to inflict
damage on the strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Georgia
as well as to interfere with our cooperation,” he added.
Azerbaijan started inspecting transit cargoes at the Beyuk-Kyasik rail
station, bordering Georgia, on December 7. According to official data,
this move was prompted by signals that part of cargoes, passing across
Azerbaijan to Georgia, are sidetracked to Armenia.
The multilateral agreement on the development of the transport
Europe-Caucasus-Asia corridor, signed in September 1998, there is
a special reservation of Azerbaijan that its territory should not
be used for transit of goods to Armenia and reception of goods from
that country.