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Armenia reiterates demand for Abkhaz railway opening

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  • Armenia reiterates demand for Abkhaz railway opening

    The Georgian Messenger
    5 April 2004

    By M. Alkhazashvili

    ON April 1, Armenia's Security Council Secretary and Defense Minister
    Serzh Sarkisian paid a visit to Georgia and held negotiations with
    local high-ranking officials regarding the restoration of the
    Transcaucasian Railway which goes from Russia to Armenia via Georgia
    and separatist-controlled Abkhazia. Other issues of their meeting
    included the reduction of tariffs on cargo transported through
    Georgian highways.

    The issue of restoring the Abkhazia stretch of the railway first came
    up one year ago at a summit held in Sochi between Russian President
    Vladimir Putin and then Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. At
    that time, the two leaders agreed that this project was to be
    conducted in parallel with the "safe and dignified" return of Georgian
    refugees to the Gali region of Abkhazia.

    Efforts to return displaced persons to the area have not met with
    success, and on Friday the Secretary of the Georgian Security Council
    Vano Merabishvili asked Armenia to use its leverage to facilitate this
    return. "Armenia should use its special relationship with Russia and
    play a more active and positive role in resolving the problem," he
    told reporters after the meeting. As land-locked Armenia has so much
    to gain from the opening of the railway, Georgian officials suggested
    to Sarkisian that his country use its influence on its strategic ally,
    Russia, in order to accelerate the process of resolving the conflict.

    At the same time when Sarkisian was in Tbilisi demanding the opening
    of the railway, the Armenian activist groups in Abkhazia Krunk and
    Mashtots, presented a list of demands to the Abkhaz separatist
    government. They reminded the leaders that local Armenians played a
    key role in "liberating Abkhazia from the Georgians." This was despite
    the fact that during the Abkhaz war of 1993, local Armenians fought on
    both sides of the conflict. The growth in the Armenian population of
    Abkhazia has caused the concern of separatist leaders and the fact
    that resettled Armenians are occupying homes belonging to Georgians
    forced out of the region could cause serious problems if and when the
    Georgian refugees return to the region.

    Georgian officials promised the Armenian guest that tariffs on
    auto-transit cargo would be reduced and in addition, Merabishvili
    apologized to Sarkisian for the inconveniences experienced by his
    country when goods bound for Armenia were held up due to the recent
    events in Adjara. As the crisis is not yet fully over, Merabishvili
    advised Sarkisian to seek alternative routes for goods normally
    transported via the Batumi Port and Sarpi Customs Check-point.
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