Representatives of Armenian and Turkish government agencies will soon meet to assess the conditions for the resumption of the Gyumri-Kars railroad line, the Massispost news website reported, citing Armenia’s deputy parliament speaker.
The Kars–Gyumri–Tbilisi railway, completed in 1899, was a key link between Turkey, Armenia and Georgia during the Soviet era, facilitating transit between the USSR and Turkey.
The line has been largely inactive since 1993, when Turkey closed its border with Armenia in response to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“The date of the meeting is not yet set. As in the past, such as with the joint study on the Margara Bridge, representatives from the Armenian and Turkish departments will soon meet to conduct a similar study to implement this agreement. This involves assessing the conditions necessary for resuming the Gyumri-Kars railway,” Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, who is also Armenia’s envoy for the normalization of relations with Turkey, told Azatutyun Radio.
He emphasized that Armenia expects all the agreements reached to be implemented and assumes that the settlement process will be completed with the establishment of diplomatic relations and the opening of borders.
The special representatives of Armenia and Turkey last met in July at the renovated Margara checkpoint, where Rubinyan and his Turkish counterpart agreed to jointly examine the technical conditions for crossing the border via the Gyumri-Kars railroad line.
On October 15 Armenian Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure Gnel Sanosyan met with Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu in Istanbul during the World Congress of the International Road Federation. Details of the meeting were not disclosed.
As Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated on October 18 at the 3+3 regional consultative platform ministerial meeting in Istanbul, the commissioning of the Gyumri-Kars railroad line together with the rail link between Armenia and Azerbaijan will enable effective communication between the Persian Gulf, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.