Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 30
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Baku today hosted opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, which was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as other officials.
Opening of the BTK railway, which is one of the most important transport corridors in the region, once again proves the power and potential of Azerbaijan.
Today Azerbaijan is a leading country in the South Caucasus, and it also plays an important role in global energy policy.
When in 2004 Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia offered to build the BTK railway, which will connect Europe and Asia, a number of countries did not believe in the possibility of this project’s implementation.
But thanks to the clear vision of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, implementation of this project began in 2008.
BTK is an illustrative example of how countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, unlike Armenia, can use their potential for the regional development.
The Azerbaijan-Turkey alliance is not directed against anyone.
The issue of Armenia’s using the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway has been discussed in the country lately. Commenting on this, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev said Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that Armenia will be able to take advantage of regional integration after it withdraws its troops from the Azerbaijani territories it occupied.
While Azerbaijan is developing and strengthening thanks to its economic policy, Armenia cannot abandon its aggressive policy directed against neighbors.
Yerevan’s occupation policy pretty much backfires against Armenia, which is now completely isolated from all important regional projects.
The most what Armenian authorities are capable of doing is distorting historical facts and thereby continuing to build their economy on the cultivation of "genocide.”
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu