Category: News

Member of the Executive Body (GM) of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), former First Deputy Minister of Defense Artak Zakaryan writes: “When you tell the people to stand up for peace, are you at least aware that, on the other hand, with your steps, you are leading that same people to face a new, possible military danger?”

It doesn’t take a great deal of intelligence to understand how CPs are unconsciously “cooking up” the next threat.

Look at the map every day and keep a close eye on what is happening in the world.

Armenia, located between Russia and Iran from the north to the south, and Turkey and Azerbaijan from the west to the east, has decided to “play the European Union” in uncertain and conflict-causing situations.

There is a popular saying. “Camel Dance Catches the Bridge.” Just as their actions created opportunities for war in Artsakh, they are creating the next serious threat for Armenia.

Do they in CP understand that as a result of their current policy, Armenia can simply be “squeezed” between Iran, Russia, Turkey and Azerbaijan?

In a global conflict for resources and communications, all sides need spheres of influence and bases. Based on its interests, the West seeks to establish itself in the Caucasus (Armenia). For Russia and Iran, it is a red line. Turkey and Azerbaijan are ready to make maximum use of this situation. And in whose interests is Armenia “going” to the next regional conflict…

Dear compatriot, don’t be fooled by CP’s lies once again.

GOD STOP YOUR FATHERLAND!”

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Ahead of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to Armenia, the Armenian Assembly of America (Assembly) welcomes the continued strengthening of US-Armenia relations and the sustained high-level cooperation between the two countries. At the same time, the Assembly remains deeply concerned by Baku’s continued refusal to release all Christian Armenian hostages illegally imprisoned in Azerbaijan and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

As previously stated by President Donald Trump. “120,000 Christians were terribly persecuted and forcibly displaced in Artsakh.” President Trump also promised to “protect persecuted Christians” and during a meeting at the White House on “Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations” he undertook to directly discuss with President Aliyev the issue of the release of Christian Armenians held hostage. The Assembly calls on the United States to translate these commitments into clear, measurable actions.

As the United States and Armenia continue to work together to advance the Trump Way for International Peace and Prosperity TRIPP, along with Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) in a number of key areas, the Assembly reaffirms the importance of strengthening Armenia’s security infrastructure and meeting the ongoing humanitarian needs of Artsakh Armenians. This includes support for the right to return to their ancestral homeland, with significant guarantees of security, democratic rights, and full protection of Armenian cultural heritage and religious sites.

The Armenian Congress of America will continue its work to advance real security, justice, and a future in which the Armenian people will live in freedom and dignity in their ancestral homeland.

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The Union of Journalists of Armenia and the Competition Commission have summarized “ARMEN DULYAN” PRIZE DISTRIBUTION voting results.

From the beginning, it was decided that the competition committee will choose the worthy journalist who has been distinguished by his professional activities and high professional qualities throughout his career, so no applications for participation in the competition were accepted.

A competition committee was formed to select the prize-winner, with the following composition:

1. Satik Seyranyan – Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Armenia, editor-in-chief of “168 zam” newspaper and “168.am” website, chairman of the competition committee

2. Vardan Aloyan – Producer of “Sputnik Armenia” press center

3. Hakob Badalyan – political analyst, publicist

4. Armen Baghdasaryan – political analyst, publicist

5. Narek Galstyan – Founder and editor of 24News.am website, political commentator

6. Alisa Gevorgyan – journalist

7. Harutyun Harutyunyan – Director of “Channel 5” TV company

8. Artak Herikyan – Head of the news service of “Channel 5”, TV presenter, commentator

9. Davit Sargsyan – journalist

And today, on the birthday of the famous journalist-publicist, the competition committee unanimously voted in favor of its 9 members and awarded the “ARMEN DULYAN” FIRST PRIZE to the well-known publicist, founder and editor-in-chief of “Aravot” daily ARAM ABRAHAMYAN, for his long-term creative principled activity, belief in honest and impartial journalism, human qualities, colleagues and the young generation of journalists. for conveying a value system, for the estimable qualities of having a unique journalistic manuscript.

In 2025, one year before the start of the award ceremony, Armen Dulyan’s family and colleagues initiated the creation of the original award statuette, based on which the Union of Journalists of Armenia will create a copy every year and hand it to the awardee. The original bronze statuette was made thanks to public fundraising on the reArmenia platform. The author is the young sculptor Arman Hambardzumyan, who has completely ceded the copyright of the prize statuette to Armen Dulyan’s family.

A copy of the 2026 award statuette was also prepared by the author and handed over to the Union of Journalists of Armenia.

In order to organize the “Armen Dulyan” award ceremony, the Union of Journalists of Armenia has announced public fundraising.

Union of Journalists of Armenia the awardee will be awarded a prize of 600 thousand drams and a copy of the award statuette, 2026. 

An award ceremony will be announced soon.

CONGRATULATIONS TO FIRST PRIZE WINNER ARAM ABRAHAMIAN!

UNION OF ARMENIAN JOURNALISTS

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“We are carrying out the fundamental works that will be the basis for Armenians and Americans to have an economic basis for working together,” said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after meeting with the RA Foreign Minister at Zvartnots airport today and signing the documents.

He first thanked for hosting him in Yerevan. “It is a pleasure for me to be here today and continue to advance the vision of President Trump and Prime Minister Pashinyan, this courageous path that leads to peace in the South Caucasus, which was confirmed last year on August 8 in Washington. It was an honor for me to sign our bilateral agreement today with the Foreign Minister on the “Trump Path for International Peace and Prosperity” project. This agreement is one of the biggest steps in the direction of making the historical path a reality,” Rubio said, continuing that this is a path to peace and prosperity in Armenia and the region.

But, according to Secretary of State Rubio, RA-US cooperation is not limited to TRIPP. He noted that they continue to develop cooperation in different directions.

“We continue to develop our relations in all other directions, and this will be an important part of the legacy of our president’s 2nd term. We have also signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Charter, which defines the framework of our bilateral relations and outlines a new path that will benefit both Armenians and Americans. To put it simply, we are carrying out the fundamental works that will be the basis for Armenians and Americans to have economic foundations for working together.

We also respect sovereignty,” Rubio noted, adding that both countries should see advantages in their relations, partnership becomes strategic when the parties share the same vision for the future.

According to him, they can help each other to achieve that better future.

Rubio believes that the Memorandum of Understanding on minerals is a step towards increasing mutual prosperity again. “During my visits, I talk a lot about minerals, all technologies, all innovations are a necessary factor in the 21st century, and their development, and their processing, extraction is important for future prosperity. Those countries that can do this will be able to gain economic independence and will be able to be at the center of innovation in the 21st century, and those that lag behind will suffer.

And we can work together so that our 2 countries, our 2 economies have reliable access to critical minerals, and this will not only be financially beneficial, this will also help to ensure a cycle of innovation, which is a critical factor for the 21st century.

And you, the Prime Minister, the entire Armenian team are paving the way to a brighter, more independent future for Armenia, and we are happy here to express our support for this vision, this courage, your commitment and readiness for the future of the country. And we are happy and proud to be a part of all this and are ready to do more together,” Marco Rubio concluded his public speech in RA.

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Yesterday, Nikol Pashinyan went to Gyumri for an election campaign, where he also held a concert and a rally in the evening. During the rally, he announced that extraordinary elections of the Council of Elders should be held in Gyumri.

According to Nikol Pashinyan, after the parliamentary elections in Armenia on June 7, special elections should be held in Gyumri together with the people of Gyumri and “people’s power will be established in Gyumri”.

Political scientist Gagik Hambaryan in the last year, the name of Gyumri is always mentioned, but we should not forget that Nikol Pashinyan seized the power in different cities and settlements with different methods.

“In Shirak Marz, for example, they brazenly brought the Chadaists to power in the Akhuryan community, “stealing” some of the opposition members of the council of elders. They did the same ugliness in Alaverdi, let’s not forget Vanadzor as well, where they arrested the mayor Mamiko Aslanyan through the political agents controlled by them, and so on. As for Gyumri, I must say that the homeless Nikol does not come to terms with the situation that has existed in Gyumri since 2021.

Nicole’s political team lost in both 2021 and 2025. They tried to blur the defeat of 2021 by forming a coalition with the “Balasanyan” alliance. Now they brazenly say that they did not form a coalition, it is interesting, what were those two deputy mayors, one the grandson of Anna Hakobyan’s aunt, the other the cousin of Suren Papikyan, doing in the Gyumri municipality, not to mention that 50 percent of the municipality were from KP?” of 168.am Gagik Hambaryan said in a conversation with

According to the political scientist, now the government is trying to “wash its hands” of the events taking place in Gyumri and say that they have nothing to do with it.

As for the last elections of the Council of Elders, according to Gagik Hambaryan, the result of the elections shocked Nikol Pashinyan.

“If you have noticed, Nikol Pashinyan constantly tries to prevent Gyumri-2 by various methods and conducts negotiations with some opposition parties, trying to attract them to his side. By the way, living in Gyumri, I have many proofs of how Nikol Anhoghi’s team, for example, tried to negotiate with Martun Grigoryan, tried to make him become the mayor, and in honor of Martun Grigoryan, he did not conduct separate negotiations with the activists. As is the case in all normal countries, he gave his votes to the party that got the most votes among the opposition parties. Now Nikol came and said that he has despised the election of the Gyumri people, that man proclaiming himself the leader of the “people’s bastion”, he simply despises the people’s election and does it openly. He does everything to trample the voice of the Gyumri people.

God forbid, if he is re-elected, then everything is clear: first, he will imprison potential opposition candidates who can win the elections, he will not allow some candidates to participate through the CEC, and he will do everything for the stepists to come to power. He will present his behavior as a normal phenomenon,” added our interlocutor.

In this context, Gagik Hambaryan reminded that a person who was not chosen by Trump was elected mayor of New York, but he is at peace with the results of the elections, because the people of New York chose that person as their mayor. And Nikol Pashinyan cannot come to terms with the situation that was formed in Gyumri as a result of the election of a Gyumri citizen.

“That man is a little dictator, he doesn’t accept dissent, he doesn’t care about the public’s opinion,” said Gagik Hambaryan.

Talking about receiving Nikol Pashinyan in Gyumri, Gagik Hambaryan said that 25-30 thousand people can fit in Gyumri square, Daniel Ioannisyan wrote that there are 7700 people.

“They got up in 5 buses and came to Gyumri, 3 buses of the guard, a huge number of law enforcement officers, the entire team of the CP. A day before coming to Gyumri, Nikol Pashinyan went to Artik, Akhuryan, Ashotsk, Maralik, did you see, the people of Akhuryan, the residents of Maralik, Artik actively participated in the Gyumri rally, that person can’t stand the fact that Vardanants Square can’t be filled. The square is full at the concerts organized by the authorities, but people do not come to the meetings with Nikol, they do not want to meet him. But he is a “zorba”, he has a fixed idea, that’s why they want to fill the square in every possible way.

People who are familiar with the “geography” of Gyumri Square understand that people gathered just in front of the stage, did you see people beyond the fountains, did you not, Gagik Hambaryan emphasized.

Let’s remind that last year in March in Gyumri, extraordinary elections of the council of elders were held, as a result of which Vardan Ghukasyan was elected the mayor of the community, defeating the CP candidate Sarik Minasyan.

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Announcement from the priest to the congregation

“We, the priests serving in the Armenian dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, under the high presidency of H.E. Karekin the Second Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, on May 26, the symbolic day of the Battle of Avarair, gathered in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, we return thanks and glory to the Almighty God for the opportunity to pray together and reflect on our sacred mission in a brotherly spirit.

The Armenian Church, established by apostolic preaching, under the benevolent gaze of God, continues to serve the Armenian people in the Motherland and in the Diaspora, to strengthen the faith of our pious people, to zealously pursue the preservation of national identity, to contribute to the education and upbringing of Armenians, and to be the voice of truth and justice in our society.

In these difficult days for the Armenian Church, when an attempt is being made to revise the centuries-old church order and rule, to force the resignation of the Catholicos of All Armenians, and essentially to subordinate the Church to the political power, with the use of state levers in Armenia, we resolutely declare that the self-governance, canonical order and inner life of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church are not subject to the dictates of any political force or state body. This illegal and unconstitutional campaign directly threatens our national solidarity and social stability, and seriously attacks the foundations of Armenian statehood.

At the same time, we consider highly condemnable the state-sponsored anti-Non and sacrilegious actions, the seizure and illegal use of monasteries and churches, church structures and resources by persons declared disorganized. This is not only a gross violation of the canonical order, but also a deliberate attempt to undermine the church congregation from within. We also note with pain that some priest fathers are involved in these divisive processes, becoming willingly or unwittingly collaborators of anti-church initiatives. Such a process is alien to the priestly covenant and has no spiritual, moral, canonical, or human justification. We call on our brothers to review their bad course and exclude unlawful actions.

We thank God that our people around the world are firm in their loyalty to Saint Etchmiadzin and are determined to protect the rights and dignity of the Armenian Church. Every attempt to undermine the sovereignty of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, to violate the church order or to belittle the God-approved authority of the Patriarch of All Armenians will face the firm and unshakable resistance of the entire believing people and the entire ecclesiastics.

In the context of the upcoming elections and political events in Armenia, we appeal to our believing people to show a responsible attitude, refrain from illegality, hate speech and the spread of misinformation and contribute to the establishment of public solidarity.

Being loyal to our covenant and to Holy Etchmiadzin, we express our unconditional filial support to H.E. Karekin the Second Catholicos of All Armenians for leading the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church with patriarchal wisdom, spiritual courage and peaceful perseverance in these days of trial.

With trust in God, we ask that the Lord extend His most caring Right to our people, our Motherland and the Holy Church, keeping Armenia peaceful, the Armenian Church unshakable, and our faith unbroken.”

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Historical disgrace. The Republic of Artsakh was expropriated, lawyer Roman Yeritsyan wrote about this.

According to the decision published today by the President of the Administrative Court of the Republic of Armenia, the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia was satisfied and the state registration of the property rights of the Republic of Artsakh over the building of the Artsakh representation was declared invalid.

I remind you that the judge refused to involve the Republic of Artsakh as a third party in the case, in the context of which I had to represent the interests of the Republic of Artsakh on behalf of another registered legal entity.

I have never had such an unreasonable and absurd court act.

I will appeal the decision to the appeals administrative court of the RA,” he said.

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As part of the military parade-report to be held on May 28, it came to light that the RA authorities have decided to change the emblem of the RA Armed Forces, as the one depicted in the posters posted on the Republic Square is significantly different.

The proposed version of the coat of arms includes the tricolor of Armenia, the map of Armenia “developed” by Nikol Pashinyan, and an eagle with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other, i.e., the place of the cross has been changed.

And the official coat of arms of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia depicts the flag of the Republic of Armenia without the map of “real Armenia”.

Official of the Ministry of Defense from the website We are informed that the official coat of arms of the Republic of Armenia was approved on January 23, 2001 by the President of the Republic of Armenia, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Robert Kocharyan.

The coat of arms is depicted on a rectangular shield at the top and a semicircular shield at the bottom. In the upper edge, on a horizontal blue background, it is written in white letters: “Armenia”, below, corresponding to the semicircle, in blue: “ARMED FORCES” the words.

The remaining field of the shield with emblematic (heraldic) elements is composed of the following pictorial parts: in the center is depicted a winged eagle with its head turned to the right, each wing of the eagle consists of seven feathers (the number 7 symbolizes the number of days of the creative week, the 15 states of historical Armenia can also be understood with the eagle’s head).

The eagle is executed in dark blue and is the central figure on the coat of arms. Indicates strength, power, insight, agility, will. Of course, all these features are characteristic of the country’s guard army.

The eagle’s head is depicted on the round disk of the sun, which also means: as long as the sun exists, so will Armenia and the Armenian armed forces. On the rays of the sun, the tricolor flag, the state symbol of Armenia, is depicted in the gap between the eagle’s wings. which certifies that the armed forces of Armenia are under the auspices of the state.

The eagle’s body forms the Armenian round shield, realized in dark and light shades of apricot. The shield symbolizes that the armed forces are the bulwark and guardian of the country’s existence.

Inside the shield is depicted an equal-winged cross, which is a symbol of our Christian heritage and faith.

The last emblematic element is the sword.

It is located horizontally under the shield. On the right is the hilt of the sword, on the left is the edge of the sword.

The sword is a symbol of eternal state and is ready to fall on the head of the enemy for the sake of the native. In terms of heraldic iconography, with its exposed sections, the sword parts also symbolize the eagle’s talons, completing the eagle-armed forces symbol.

According to Gegham Manukyan, a member of the NA “Armenia” alliance, the current authorities are corrupting like any lasting, institutional idea, structure, and now it is the turn of the RA Armed Forces coat of arms.

“While taking such a step without professional discussions on the most important issues related to the broadest institutional structure of our country, at least speaks of one thing: the CP representing the government considers the RA armed forces as one of their party offices, and not as a pan-Armenian and pan-popular structure. I don’t want to go into all the aesthetic details, because every detail is already problematic: the idea of ​​the shield, the cross, and the eagle with outstretched wings, which is completely in their policy of “fitting in a blanket”, moreover, they stuck an outline of a map on the coat of arms. These are all RA official documents: Constitution, laws on coat of arms and anthem, none of the RA state attributes, but are associated with the ideas of Nikol Pashinyan and CP. If this continues, perhaps they will also eliminate the anthem of the RA Armed Forces, the song “Yeraz im yerkir htori” declared the anthem of the army at the initiative of Vazgen Sargsyan,” 168.amGegham Manukyan mentioned in a conversation with

We have tried to find out from the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia if there is a developed sketch that includes these changes, what is the idea behind each of these changes? For example, in the official coat of arms of the RA Armed Forces, the sword is in a horizontal position under the shield, and the hilt of the sword can be seen on the right side, on the left – the tip of the sword, and in the version circulating in the military parade, the sword is in the hand of an eagle with the tip of the sword facing up, or, by some logic, the place of the cross has been changed.

The Ministry of Defense has not yet responded, we will publish the response as soon as we receive it.

And before that, let’s recall another similar episode. In January 2020, a new version of the emblem of the RA Ministry of Defense was circulated, which was perceived as the emblem of the RA Armed Forces, and gave rise to various comments: “there is no power in it, the lion’s wings have nothing to do with the animal, the swords are not Armenian, the Armenian crosses have been flourishing since the Urartian region, and the Celtic one is a combination of the Scandinavian emblems of Thor and Odin”, etc.

 

And the fact that there is a discussion about a new version of the Ministry of Defense emblem became clear in the context of the Army Day celebration, because it was printed on the invitation card.

At that time, Deputy of the “My Step” faction of the National Assembly, Alexei Sandikov 168.amin a conversation with

“I saw that sketch on other users’ pages, there were professional discussions among different designers, where people expressed their comments, both about the aesthetic appearance and the flaws. Discussions are, of course, productive because different points of view are voiced. Used for the first time as a logo, the purpose of which is to listen to the opinion of the public. Nothing prevents designers from contacting the Ministry of Defense with their proposals.”

And Artsrun Hovhannisyan, spokesperson of the RA Ministry of Defense clarification spread that it is not about the coat of arms of the Armed Forces.

“This is not the coat of arms of the RA Armed Forces, but a version of the coat of arms of the RA Defense Ministry.

If we leave aside our personal opinions, several circumstances are important here.

.This is a draft, not official, not final.

2. Neither in this picture, nor in yesterday’s circulated picture, the symmetry of the lines may not be preserved, because it is not a vector file.

3. This project can become official in case of public support. It can become.”

Then publicly these rumors died down.

Let’s go back to the coat of arms and make a domestic political observation, especially when we don’t have an official response from the Ministry of Defense.

The coat of arms of the RA Armed Forces was once approved by the second President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, who today as a candidate for the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia is participating in the National Assembly elections, and Nikol Pashinyan puts the new coat of arms into circulation right before the elections, which, willy-nilly, becomes a “subject” of political struggle.

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of the joint working group held in Kars in mid-May regular during the session, the representatives of Turkey and Armenia, according to the report, “in accordance with the agreements on the regulation of Armenian-Turkish relations, emphasized the importance of quickly commissioning the Gyumri-Akhurik-Doghunkapi-Kars railway (146 km).

It is assumed that this line will not only “provide permanent communication between the two countries”, will also become an integral part of the “Trans-Caspian route”, which connects Asia and Europe, bypassing the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the operation of this artery is no less dependent on Russia, because, despite not all recent scandals, the railway infrastructure of Armenia, according to the concession agreement of 2008, is under the management of the company “Russian Railways” (РЖД) for 30 years, represented by its subsidiary “South Caucasian Railway” (SCR).

The two sides are also discussing other joint transport and logistics projects within the framework of the development of the well-known “Trump” corridor, including, for example, the opening of an automobile border checkpoint (it will work first for transit cargo and passenger flows) not far from the Gyumri-Kars railway, which has not been operational since 1993 by Ankara’s decision.

The profile portal of the Russian Federation (on May 12 of this year) notes. “The launch of this line will enable Armenia to be positioned” on key transport corridors, including the Trans-Caspian route, which is used to ship goods between China and Europe, bypassing Russia.

The route passing through Armenia will even shorten the transport distance compared to the transit through the territory of Georgia” (referring to its ports). Regular operation of this highway is expected from 2027.

Armenia has repeatedly expressed (including at the official level) in favor of changing the concessionaire, for example, by early handing over the concession from Russia to Kazakhstan. In the hypothetical implementation of this idea, the actual controller of that pulse will be the USA, within the framework of the recently dimmed idea of ​​the “Trumpian” corridor.․..

Meanwhile, Turkey, Syria and Jordan started in the first ten days of May Hijaz Railway (more than 1300 km long) regeneration process, which is meant to connect the southeastern regions of Turkey with the Arabian Peninsula through the historical Levant (Lebanon and Syria) and Jordan.։

Being one of the largest infrastructure projects of the late Ottoman Empire more than a century ago, in its modern version it aims to connect Turkey to the Gulf countries and Yemen through the Arab region.

The project was given a new impetus on April 7 with the signing of an intergovernmental tripartite memorandum on cooperation in the transport sector in Amman.

The central point of the document is the creation of an integrated railway corridor, based on the idea of ​​the restoration of the historical trans-regional Hijaz highway and its development. Two weeks after that The Minister of Transport of Saudi Arabia, Salih al-Jasser, said that the technical studies of the railway route, “which should connect Saudi Arabia with Turkey through the territory of Jordan and Syria, is planned to be completed at the end of this year.” At that time, Riyadh joined the said memorandum.

Turkish experts according to՝ “the project, which was conceived more than a century ago by Sultan Abdul Hamid II as a route to the holy cities of Islam, is making a comeback today as a new land trade corridor between Europe and the countries of the Arabian Peninsula.”

In the future, this rail route is planned to be extended through Saudi Arabia to Oman (one option is through South Yemen), thus “ringing” the land corridor from Anatolia to the Red Sea basin and the Arab ports of the Persian Gulf (taking into account the existing rail connection of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Kuwait, UAE and Qatar).

The modern Hejaz line, the Turkish Ministry of Transport notes, is designed for trains running at a speed of 150-200 km per hour, and can be used not only for freight traffic, but also for passenger transportation, including religious and cultural tourism.

In a broader context, according to Istanbul University associate professor Ali Ozgur Karagül, the growth of foreign trade volumes of the Persian Gulf countries in recent years, combined with Turkey’s geopolitical and economic position in the region, has pushed the transport corridor between Europe and the Gulf states to the fore, because there can no longer be a “single global trade route” in the global system. Accordingly, local transport corridors and trade routes are brought to the fore.”

In the same applied context, “everything from railway infrastructure to electrification, signaling and rolling stock must be revised to meet the needs of the newly created line. And Turkey should make significant efforts to revive the line passing through its and its surrounding territories.  This artery, for now without extensions to Yemen and Oman, according to preliminary planning, will be put into operation no later than 2029.

Alexey Baliev

vpoanalytics.com

Translation by Zhanna Avetisyan

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