Epress.am News from Armenia
Going to Javakhq from Tbilisi in Georgia is much easier now than it was a couple of years ago. With American taxpayers’ money, 178 km of new road have been built; by the end of October, the road will be lengthened by a few more kilometers, reports Caucasus Online.
The asphalt-paved road has not yet reached the village of Kumurdo, which is 12 km away from the main road. In Kumurdo, one can see an Armenian flag, while almost none of the residents speak Georgian, not even at a household level.
In the town of Akhalkalaki, 95% of the population are ethnic Armenians. Here there’s only one Georgian school and no more than 10 students in each class. The teachers are proud of their work, three of whom this year were accepted into a higher-educational institution.
The new railway line will meet European standards and will connect Azerbaijan and Georgia with Turkey and Europe. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway route will be completed by next year. The old rails along the Tbilisi to Akhalkalaki rail route are being upgraded, and the ground of the section that goes till the Turkish border is being leveled.
Both children and adults are learning Georgian. Writing in the center of Akhalkalaki is in three languages. Local residents are sure that the problem of integration will be automatically resolved parallel to the economic development of the region. Who previously worked at the Russian military base is now a businessman or a construction worker.
On the border town of Karsakhi, a new highway is being built. The Millennium Challenge Fund has provided more than $200 million USD in building or reconstructing the roads in Javakhq. The new highway will be beneficial not only for the residents, but also for residents in Armenia and Turkey.
While the Armenia-Turkey border is still closed, the two sides will be able to communicate on an economic level, by passing the 65 km Georgian highway.
Javakhq could become an important transit hub also for tourists. After the reconstruction of the Akhaltsikhe–Batumi road, this road will become the shortest route for Armenian tourists, who every year visit the resorts along the Georgian section of the Black Sea coast. But interesting views also await tourists in Javakhq.