Alisahib Huseynov:
Georgia-Azerbaijan train transport restoration
it also has moral and political aspects

The operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku passenger train will resume in the coming days (from May 26). This news was one of the most encouraging news of recent times. The railway connection, which will be restarted after a long break of six years, was greeted with great joy, especially by Azerbaijanis living in Georgia, as well as by our compatriots originally from Borchali district and living in Azerbaijan. This is not without reason. Because those people had to fly from Azerbaijan to Georgia only by plane in recent years, which meant additional financial expenses. Due to the special quarantine regime during the pandemic, the land borders between Georgia and Azerbaijan were closed for a long time, causing great dissatisfaction among our compatriots living there.

During the past 6 years, communication and travel with relatives had become very difficult. Of course, this situation was not at all favorable for our compatriots. The possibility of traveling only by air was not easy for these people. Because sometimes even finding a plane ticket became a problem. Our compatriots had difficulty even going to the good and bad of their natives. As a result, our relations with our relatives and friends living in Borchali were getting weaker and weaker.

But after the news of the resumption of trains, people are now giving good news to each other. Everyone welcomes this news with great satisfaction. Therefore, I think that this decision will have a very positive effect on the relations of our compatriots living in Georgia with their relatives and friends in Azerbaijan. The resumption of train services will now make travel more accessible and will make an important contribution to strengthening ties between relatives and loved ones. The restoration of the Baku-Tbilisi-Baku train flight will eliminate the unwanted situations that have arisen during the pandemic to a great extent and will meet the needs of both Azerbaijani citizens from Borchali and all persons visiting Georgia from Azerbaijan.

Currently, half a million of our compatriots live in Borchali district on the territory of Georgia. In many cases, the life, education and treatment issues of many of them are closely related to Azerbaijan, and especially to the capital Baku. Also, we have enough compatriots in Georgia whose family members live permanently in Azerbaijan. Therefore, the opening of roads and railways has become a necessity. This decision is a decision that is close to the hearts of Azerbaijani citizens originally from Borchali, as well as people who want to travel from Azerbaijan to Georgia as tourists. It is also a very timely decision for our business people, the facilitation of commuting is a very commendable initiative.

The restoration of Georgia-Azerbaijan train transport has moral and political aspects. This step is not enough to make people's daily life easier. The restoration of the train route between the two important capital cities of the South Caucasus will also encourage the strengthening of solidarity between our compatriots. At the same time, Azerbaijan-Georgia will further strengthen its strategic partnership.

Alisahib Huseynov, chairman of the Azerbaijan Solidarity Committee