Yesterday, in the context of the restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway, its economic, geopolitical significance and Armenian and Armenian-Georgian relations. about risks we talked Shiraz Khachatryan, an expert of the “Henaket” analytical center with

Today, one of the Azerbaijani propaganda media is day.az in the editorial also referred to the restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway and made certain comments.

“Attempts to consider the Kars-Gyumri railway exclusively as a bilateral project between Turkey and Armenia ignore the regional reality. The South Caucasus is a system of interconnected interests, where the actions of one side inevitably affect the others. Azerbaijan is a key player in this system. Its economic, transport and political potential makes it an irreplaceable participant for any major regional project.

Moreover, Baku is the driving force behind the development of transport corridors, including the “Middle Corridor” and projects connecting Europe to Asia. And even trying to ignore this fact is a strategic mistake. It is obvious that the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations remain one of the stable factors of the development of the region, and they should be put or taken into account in the basis of any decision. Without this, any project runs the risk of turning into a stillborn initiative that will not withstand a collision with reality.” it is mentioned in the Azerbaijani analysis and it is reminded that any step by Turkey in the Armenian direction is considered through the prism of Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance relations.

Is this talking about a certain Turkish game, or about differences in some issues in Turkish-Azerbaijani relations? “Henaket” analytical center expert Shiraz Khachatryan we asked to discuss these issues this time.

According to him, there can be a Turkish game here, and taking into account that Turkey is playing its big game in the South Caucasus, this can also suggest the Baku-Ankara contradictions.

“It is possible that Turkey can take various steps to curb Azerbaijan’s whims, including in relations with Armenia. On the other hand, if we take a global look at where Turkey’s logistics routes go, from China through Central Asia to Europe, it is clear that at some point the still “unofficial” relations with Armenia may disappear. But, I repeat, Turkey is able to play with Azerbaijan’s nerves as well, to show that at any time such things are possible, such as a railway passing through the territory of Armenia, etc. In fact, the topic of the Gyumri-Kars railway is multi-layered, and here a separate geopolitical one for Turkey taking into account the ambitions, it is clear that it is also playing a separate game, regardless of the whims of Azerbaijan.

However, one should not ignore Turkey’s priorities at the global level: energy, logistics, extending to Central Asia, they are connected with Azerbaijan in many ways, so it will have to take into account not only the whims of Baku, but also the existing realities, if faced with a dilemma. And when I say that this is a multi-layered issue, I also mean that another step to strengthen Turkey’s position in the South Caucasus is the restoration of the Gyumri-Kars railway, within the framework of which there may also be goals of making Armenia economically dependent,” explained Shiraz Khachatryan.

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