Armenian Transport Minister Says Opening Turkish Border Realistic

realistic, although there have been no official talks between the

relevant bodies of the two countries and the question is still

political one, Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications

Andranik Manukyan said on 2 August at a ceremony dedicated to the

105th anniversary of the Armenian railways.

“All that remains is for Turkey to show political will and open

the border,” he said. The opening of the border is important since

“Armenia will then become a transit country for shipments from Georgia

and our dependence on Georgia will lessen”, Manukyan said.

Considering the trend of the past 2-3 years, the Armenian railways

will carry around 30 per cent more cargo in 2003 compared to 2002,

Manukyan said. During the Soviet times, the number of carriages

unloaded in Armenia reached 2,000 per day. Now, this number does not

exceed several dozens, he said.

The Armenian railways are 800 km long and working at 15 per cent

of their capacity. The farthest destination of carriages sent from

Yerevan is Tbilisi.