YEREVAN, AUGUST 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Speaker for the RA President Victor Soghomonian failed to receive any "official confirmation" that China and Kazakhstan intend to participate in the construction of Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway. He stated this at the August 30 press conference. In response to a question of NT correspndent about official Yerevan's attitude to the participation of China and Kazakhstan in the indicated construction project, V. Soghomonian said that "it is worth waiting a bit and then watching the developments to take place." He reminded that official Yerevan has repeatedly expressed its negative position and concerns about the project. "If there are developments in the future as well, we'll not keep silent," he pointed out. To recap, in his recent interview with the newspaper "Zaman", the Turkish minister of transport Binali Yeldrum told about China's and Kazakhstan's intention to participate in the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project. In his words, the "previous contradiction" between Armenia and Turkey allegedly caused a delay in this project's implementation for years on end. In his opinion, the railway is going to change the current situation in the region and to improve general conditions there. "Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are working jointly in order to overcome all those difficulties that have a negative impact on the regional economy," the Turkish minister said. According to him, the project will establish a direct link between Turkey and Azerbaijan via Georgia: "The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway will link Turkey with Azerbaijan. It is important that all cargos in the region reach Europe and Asia through Turkey." It is noteworthy that many donor states refused to participate in the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku construction project on the grounds that in this way Armenia would be isolated from the regional railway transportation network.

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