According to former NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, the attempt to present the road through Nakhichevan and the construction of a railway as beneficial for Armenia is ignorance.
On February 9, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed in the parliament that an agreement had been reached at the level of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the restoration and construction of the Yeraskh-Julfa-Ordubad-Meghri-Horadiz railway.
“I have formed a working group, which is already engaged in organizing the construction of the railway… the railway will become a route for international cargo transportation. It is important that the document is signed quickly…,” he said. The authorities have regularly talked about this railway, but it is noteworthy that Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan made the following statement in the National Assembly in December: “If a solution is agreed, it will have regional significance. In that case, we will get the peace mandate we are talking about, because all the countries of the region will be interested in that infrastructure.”
In a conversation with Aravot, RPA Deputy Chairman, former NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov mentioned. “I will try to speak with facts and stay within the limits of correctness, but what is the mandate of peace? One year they talk about peace, but today 41 square km of the territory of the Republic of Armenia is occupied by Azerbaijan, and 21 km of the Goris-Kapan interstate road is controlled by Azerbaijan. There is already an Azerbaijani customs point there. We have a problem in the Black Lake, what peace? We have had captives and victims in one year, what is peaceful about that?” Regarding the mentioned railway, our interlocutor stressed that presenting the way of Pan-Turkism as an “Armenian crossroads” is inadmissible and ignorant. “If it is an Armenian crossroads, why is there no such way in thirty years, including in the security strategy of their own government? That is the road for Pan-Turkism.”
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RPA Deputy Chairman, former NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov
Eduard Sharmazanov noted, “The Young Turks, Karabekir, Aliyev, Erdogan dreamed about it… Suleyman Demirel called that part of Syunik ‘a cursed wedge.’ What is the talk about? How could such a thing be discussed during our rule, if during our rule the strategy was aimed at building a north-south road? The attempt to present the road through Nakhichevan and the construction of a railway as beneficial for Armenia is ignorance. What more can I say? It is a service to Turkish interests. Besides, how can we talk about the benefits of the blockade, if we already have the Ijevan-Kazakh railway, which is about 250 km shorter and does not connect Turkey to Azerbaijan? If Nikol Pashinyan has set a goal of unblocking and economic profitability, let him invest money in reopening and repairing the Ijevan-Kazakh railway, and not provide $200 million from scratch at the expense of our taxes to achieve the Turkish goal. Does national humiliation happen in a hurry?”
Eduard Sharmazanov, speaking about the current stage of the Armenian-Turkish dialogue, when the authorities regularly refer to the fact that the previous authorities also negotiated with Turkey without preconditions, said, “Yes, in our time negotiations were held without preconditions, but they are two different processes. During our administration, Artsakh was Armenian, Shushi and Hadrut were Armenian. During our administration, there weren’t thousands of victims. During our administration, people visited Artsakh via two routes. During our administration, the Turks did not raise the issue of the corridor. Besides, it was our football diplomacy to push Turkey out of the Artsakh process. And now Turkey has entered the Artsakh process, it dictates conditions. Read the declaration of Shushi, you will be convinced. And, most importantly, what precondition? They have met all the preconditions of Turkey. Sorry, but Nikol Pashinyan’s government does not even have the status of Serzh Sargsyan’s football diplomacy ball today.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
