The countries of the South Caucasus have a historic opportunity to  ensure not only a peaceful but also a prosperous and developing  region - Pashinyan

ArmInfo.Dialogue between Armenia and Turkey, peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the TRIPP route project, and good-neighborly relations of Georgia and the Islamic Republic of Iran with regional countries will make the South Caucasus the most attractive transit route in the North-South and East-West directions.

This means that the  infrastructure of all our countries will operate at full capacity, if  not insufficient to accommodate the growing flows.  Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan made this statement during the 5th  International Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi. He emphasized that the  enormous international interest currently focused on the South  Caucasus is capital that Armenia, along with Georgia and Azerbaijan,  must properly utilize to ensure the region's development and  stability.

"Ultimately, we have a historic opportunity to ensure not only a  peaceful but also a prosperous and developing South Caucasus. After  all, peace, prosperity, and development are inseparable companions of  commercial cargo, pipelines, and power transmission lines, or vice  versa-commercial cargo, pipelines, and power transmission lines are  constant companions of peace and prosperity. Peace has come to our  region, and now we need to bring more cargo, more pipelines, more  power transmission lines, and ensure the prosperity and development  to the South Caucasus. This will further strengthen peace, and  therefore will increase the volume and pace of cargo flows, as well  as prosperity and development. This is for all of us-for Armenia,  Georgia, and Azerbaijan," the head of government said. According to  Pashinyan, the leaders of the three South Caucasus countries have  enough will, wisdom, and foresight to work for prosperity,  development, and peace not only individually but also together, while  certainly interacting with other neighbors and international  partners.

He also noted that the positive dialogue between Armenia and Turkey  gives hope for the possible opening of the Armenian-Turkish border in  the near future. The Prime Minister stated that Armenia is ready,  starting today, both politically and technically, to ensure the  transit of trucks through the territory of the Republic of Armenia  from Turkey to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan to Turkey.

"Both the roads and border infrastructure in Armenia are ready for  this along the Margara-Yeghegnadzor- Sisian-Goris route," Pashinyan  noted.  He noted that, from a political standpoint, Armenia is also  ready to ensure transit through Armenia from Nakhichevan to the  mainland of Azerbaijan and vice versa. However, due to the lack of  infrastructure, this is currently technically impossible to ensure.  Politically, Armenia is also ready to ensure rail transit between  Turkey and Nakhichevan, as well as between Turkey and the mainland of  Azerbaijan. However, the railway in these sections requires repair or  reconstruction.

"I am confident, that these technical issues will be resolved within  2-3 years. In the near future, pipelines and power lines from  Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan, as well as rail and road connections, will  pass through Armenian territory. All of this is being discussed  within the framework of the TRIPP route project.  Concurrently,  relevant discussions are underway with Turkey and Azerbaijan," the  head of government stated.

Pashinyan also cited the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan  established in Washington in August, as the most important condition  for implementing all of this. He said that work is currently underway  with Azerbaijan to ensure that the peace agreement becomes more  institutionalized. "In parallel, all transport routes will be  gradually opened, which will be a historic change for our region," he  noted. The Prime Minister noted that the region's transport routes  complement each other, increasing the South Caucasus's transit  potential, rather than competing with one another. "I'll give one  example: as a result of the implementation of the third point of the  Washington Declaration, the Persian Gulf-Black Sea railway route will  also be opened, which will significantly increase  not only Armenia's  transit potential, but also Georgia's and Azerbaijan's potential,"  Pashinyan emphasized.