“Promoting lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus is a priority for the Republic of Armenia, and in this context I attach importance to unblocking the region’s infrastructure”, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said this in an interview with the Greek publication “Kathimerini”, News.am reported.
“The “Crossroads of the World” project provides for a significant increase in throughput capacity, road freight traffic, pipelines, power lines and internet cables between the Black Sea, on the one hand, and the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through the territory of Armenia on the other. This is because the most optimal railway route from Georgia to Armenia and Iran passes through Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan, and this railway existed during the Soviet years – the North-South route of the ‘Crossroads of the World’,” the Armenian Prime Minister said.
There is also the East-West route, which will connect the Caspian Sea with the Mediterranean through the territory of Armenia, as well as the Turkish ports on the Black Sea. This will require railways, roads, pipelines, power lines and cables from Azerbaijan through Armenia to Turkey.
“We are ready for such solutions. Moreover, the infrastructure of this road can also be used for communication between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan. This is possible if the following conditions are met:
– All infrastructure must be under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through whose territory it passes;
– Each country, through its state institutions, carries out border and customs control on its territory and provides security;
– This infrastructure can be used for both international and domestic transport;
– All countries use each other’s infrastructure on the basis of the principle of equality and reciprocity,” Pashinyan stressed.
