Armenian, Turkish reps discuss prospect of opening railroad border crossing

YEREVAN. Dec 13 (Interfax) - Representatives of Armenia and Turkey met at the two countries' border to discuss the possibility of opening a railroad border crossing, Armenia's parliament deputy speaker and special envoy for the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara, Ruben Rubinyan, said.

"A meeting of the two countries' delegation took place to discuss the technical assessment needed for the launch of the Akhurik (Armenia)-Akyaka (Turkey) railroad border crossing, which is better known as the Kars (Turkey)-Gyumri (Armenia) railroad," Rubinyan told Armenia's Public Television.

Though the meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere, the parties did not agree on the launch of train services between Armenia and Turkey at it, he said.

The agreement on opening the Armenian-Turkish land border for citizens of third countries and diplomatic passport holders is yet to be fulfilled too, Rubinyan said.

"Armenia, for its part, has done all it could to this end, and we expect Turkey to do its best as well. We are still waiting for Turkey to fulfill this agreement and, what's more, open the border in full and establish diplomatic relations with Armenia," he said.

However, Ankara has not yet taken a political decision on that, he said.

"I regret it but hope that this decision will be taken. We believe that the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey will very strongly impact efforts to ensure peace and stability across the region and will also positively influence the peace process between Armenia and Turkey," Rubinyan said.