APA, Azerbaijan
Nov 2 2017
Baku says Yerevan may join new rail after pullout from Karabakh
[Armenian News note: the below is translated from the Azeri edition of APA]
Azerbaijan has said that neighbouring Armenia may start using the
newly-inaugurated Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway after the long-standing
conflict over breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh is resolved.
"Our precondition for Armenia's joining this project is that first of
all the [Nagorno-Karabakh] conflict must be resolved and [Armenian]
troops must withdraw from our territory. After that it will be
possible to use every opportunity for cooperation and neighbourly
relations. Azerbaijan has not invaded any lands," APA quoted Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov as saying on 2 November. Mammadyarov was
speaking at a news conference with visiting Montenegrin Foreign
Minister Srdjan Darmanovic.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway linking Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey
was put into operation on 30 October. The railway bypasses Armenia,
which has been locked in a largely frozen conflict with Azerbaijan
over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region since the late 1980s. Many
in Armenia view the new rail route as a tool used by Azerbaijan and
Turkey to deepen the country's isolation; Armenia is a landlocked
country that shares borders with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Iran.