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Armenia ready to open Turkish border, join railway project

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Armenia is ready to open its border with Turkey and join a major railway project to connect Turkey and Georgia, an Armenian deputy foreign minister said Thursday.
TBILISI, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - Armenia is ready to open its border with Turkey and join a major railway project to connect Turkey and Georgia, an Armenian deputy foreign minister said Thursday.

Armenia and Turkey have not had diplomatic relations since an alleged 1915 Armenian genocide that is said to have claimed the lives of about 1.5 million Armenians. Turkey has consistently denied the genocide charges.

"There are certain problems, because Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic relations," Gegam Garibdzhanyan said. "Armenia is ready to open its border with Turkey, and is ready for counter-proposals."

The diplomat said Armenia was also ready to join the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway project.

"We already have the Kars-Gyumri-Akhalkalaki railway, which has not been used since the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the countries in the region gained independence," he said. "If the border between Armenia and Turkey is opened, the railway could be opened practically the following day."

Gabridzhanyan said: "The closer the countries in the region cooperate and the further Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia develop their economic relations, the safer the region will be for everyone."

Turkey imposed a blockade on Armenia after the ex-Soviet republic became embroiled in a conflict with Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has an Armenian majority and has been seeking independence, but Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia's independence in 1991.

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh first erupted in 1988 when it declared its independence from Azerbaijan and moved to join Armenia.

Over 30,000 people were killed on both sides between 1988 and 1994, and over 100 died following a 1994 ceasefire. Nagorno-Karabakh remained in Armenian hands, but tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted, and Azerbaijan is determined to restore its control over the separatist region.

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