Armenian government approves North-South highway investment plan

October 5, 2017 By administrator

The cabinet on Thursday approved an investment plan aimed at the construction of the North-South Highway corridor.

The document, signed in May 2011 between the Republic of Armenia and the Asian Development Bank, is in line with the Constitution, said Vahan Martirosyan, the minister of transport, communication and information technologies.

“The agreement proposes measures to prolong the Plan 2 credit agreement for 27 months, as well as further steps to extend the Plan 3 credit agreement for 21 months,” he told the cabinet members.

The bill will be submitted to the National Assembly for ratification.

Armenia short of financial resources to complete North-South highway construction – ADB representative

August 30, 2017 By administrator

Recent findings by the Asian Development bank reveal that the Armenian Government has insufficient financial resources to complete a major motorway project connecting the country’s north with the south.

Speaking to Tert.am, Silva Adamyan, the head of an ADB working group conducting a monitoring of organizations, said their activities, conducted since 2009, herald no chances of bringing the North-South highway construction to life.

“Creditors are not able to exercise monitoring mechanisms, so it is for the state to demonstrate the necessary political will to construct the motorway which is of such a vital importance to Armenia,” she said.

In response to our earlier request, sources from the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies said the total spending of the project covered US $150.3 million and €23.14. But no further details were provided as to the further costs required for finishing the construction.

The ADB has periodically conducted meetings with Ministry representatives since 2009 and in 2011, it arranged talks also with top responsible officers for Caucasus projects. “We tried to convey to them our concerns over the lack of progress despite the availability of financial means. And in 2012-2013, we decided to raise the problem as we saw that absolutely no steps were being taken; what’s even more, we tried to involve members of the National Assembly. At the annual meeting in Kazakhstan, we informed the bank representatives of the situation and later really recorded a certain progress. For the moment, 31km out of the 556km are finished,” Adamyan noted.

She added that she also met with the ADB resident representative in Armenia. “What the top representative told me was that they treat that project very cautiously as they do not think the government can possibly continue it.”

“The Asian Development Bank’s funding for the entire program will amount to $550 million which will add to the European Bank’s allocation of $150 million. Yet, the government proves to be facing a shortage of means to complete the project,” Adamyan said.

Edmon Marukyan, an opposition MP from the political bloc Yelk, blames the government for abusing resources. “We never had such an unprecedented theft in the history of Armenia. The spent 5.650.000$, for 1km to complete only 31km and leaving another 525km unfinished,” he said.

Asked whether any legislative measures are being considered, the lawmaker did not rule out the possibility of raising the problem at a parliamentary committee meeting.

Armenia-Iran highway to raise Armenia’s geopolitical role – orientalist

July 11, 2015 By administrator

In an interview with Tert.am, the head of the Yerevan State University’s Iranian Studies Chair commented upon the perspectives and importance of the Iran-Armenia railway project.

Garnik Asatryan particularly highlighted the political and economic advantages for both countries, as well as the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union. “Armenia will go into the big economic movements and gain an increased geopolitical significance in the region,” he noted.
Asatryan said he finds the new railway communication plan absolutely feasible, adding that financial resources will be no problem at all in case the sides demonstrate the necessary willingness. “That doesn’t depend on just one individual or the authorities; there are problems that require also favorable conditions. I think that this project, which has been so many times discussed and will keep being discussed still more, has big chances of becoming real,” he added.
The orientalist further stressed the importance of economic conditions. He said that the high geographic landscape would require several years’ work to complete the project.
In his speech at the joint summit of the BRICS, EEU and SCO leaders in Ufa (Russia), Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said he believes the construction of the Iran-Armenia highway will open a route to the Indian Ocean for the EEU member states.
Asatryan said he thinks that the project will raise the advantages of not only Armenia but also Iran. “The Persian Gulf will thus have a direct communication route with Russia. [The project], if realized, will really be advantageous to Armenia,” he added.

Vardenis-Martakert Highway Set to Open in 2016

May 28, 2015 By administrator

The Vardenis-Martakert Highway (marked in white)

YEREVAN (Arka)—The construction of the Vardenis-Martakert highway connecting Armenia with Artsakh will be completed by early 2016, Ara Vardanyan, the executive director of Hayastan Pan-Armenian Fund, told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the 24th meeting of the Fund’s Board of Trustees in Yerevan.

The 116-kilometer-long road link, which began to be constructed in 2011, will run from the northern Karabakh town of Martakert to Vardenis in eastern Armenia through the Karvachar district. It will be the second road between Armenia and Karabakh built with the financial assistance of the Armenian Diaspora.

The construction is being financed by Hayastan All-Armenia Fund that raised $12.4 million in donations in the 2014 telethon.

The Fund has implemented over $260 million worth of infrastructure projects in Armenia and Artsakh since its establishment in 1992. Its current Board of Trustees is headed by President Serzh Sarkisian, comprising also other senior Armenian state officials, head of the Armenian Church Catholicos Karekin II as well as prominent representatives of Armenian communities around the world.

source: asbarez

ISIS Starts Recruiting in Istanbul’s Vulnerable Suburbs “THE JIHADI HIGHWAY”

September 12, 2014 By administrator

NewsWeek

By Alev Scott and Alexander Christie-Miller / September 12, 2014

In June, Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper reported that as many as 3,000 Turks have joined the group. “No other Nato country is as exposed to the threat of Isis jihadism as Turkey is,” says Sinan Ulgen, a former diplomat and head of Edam, an Istanbul-based foreign policy think tank. In the past, Western diplomats have accused Turkey of indirectly facilitating the flow of arms and foreign fighters to Isis by operating an open-

border policy with Syria in its eagerness to help the rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad. After the group overran Turkey’s consulate in Mosul in June and took dozens of staff hostage, however, most now agree that authorities in Ankara has woken up to the seriousness of the threat, but may now have its hands tied in responding to it.

Forty nine Turkish citizens, including the consul general, remain Isis’ prisoners. In the past month it has beheaded two American journalists it was holding hostage in retaliation for US airstrikes.

“Turkey is not ‘soft’ on Isis,” a Turkish government official says. “It just avoids unnecessary rhetoric, in particular on the issue of hostages in Mosul.” He adds that “all necessary actions and precautions are being taken” to combat the domestic threat posed by the group.

ISIS IN ISTANBUL

That claim is disputed by the family of Ahmet Beyaztas, a 25-year-old Kurdish car mechanic, who joined the group last month. Speaking at home in the bleak factory town of Dilovasi, a polluted and poverty-stricken community on the fringe of Istanbul, his brother Kenan tells of how local Isis supporters openly displayed its flag in the windows of their cars and homes.

A month ago, Ahmet was among 19 young men from the neighbourhood who boarded two minibuses and headed to Syria to join the fighters. A member of parliament for an opposition party recently told a local newspaper that he believed 90 young men from another nearby town have made a similar journey in recent weeks.

“There are many, many more who are joining. And the police are doing nothing,” says Kenan, 30, a schoolteacher. “I’m Kurdish and a leftist. If four Kurds get together the state will break them apart. Of course they can stop them if they choose to.”

Yerevan’s new highway appreciated

June 17, 2014 By administrator

Not only drivers, but also Yerevan residents have appreciated the new highway connecting Leningradyan Street with Admiral Isakov Avenue, which was put into operation last Saturday.

“It is very convenient. We spare both time and our nerves. We also save fuel,” drivers say.