THE RAILWAY WILL NOT BYPASS ARMENIA

22 September, 2006
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Washington, DC - The Armenian Assembly today praised a key Senate committee for affirming U.S policy in the South Caucasus by prohibiting funding for a bypass rail link sponsored by the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments and aimed at excluding Armenia from economic and regional transportation opportunities.

"Armenia is a valued friend of the United States and our government ought not to be supporting programs or initiatives in the South Caucasus that exclude that country from participation," said Santorum. "The manager's amendment adopted today by the Committee on Banking will make sure such a scenario does not happen."

"We cannot continue to stoke the embers of regional conflict by supporting projects that deliberately exclude one of the region's most important members," said Menendez. "Fundamentally, this amendment is about fairness and about inclusion, rather than exclusion. With this amendment, we are sending a simple message -- that we believe that the United States should support an integrated and inclusive approach to economic and regional development in the Caucasus region."


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