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The New Silk Road

A railroad through the southern Caucasus will soon connect Europe and Asia, fueling dreams and discord in the region.

/2010/08/turkey/img/01-kars-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-01.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Turkey Late afternoon light gleams on the twin—and sometimes clashing—symbols of Turkish identity in Kars, a town about 30 miles from the Armenian border. A mosque's minarets stand across from a statue of Mustafa Kemal, or Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey and a staunch secularist.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/02-concrete-hand-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-02.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Turkey A ten-foot concrete hand stands above the eastern Turkish town of Kars, part of a monument of goodwill toward nearby Armenia that may never be completed. Construction stopped partly because of protests by residents opposed to improved relations with Armenia.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/03-planned-train-route-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-03.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Turkey Crossing cultures and connecting faiths, the newest section of the planned rail route stitches Christian Georgia to Muslim Turkey. Gönülalan is one of the Turkish villages on the train's path; nomadic Kurds like this man and boy find temporary housing in tents while they tend livestock.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/04-new-railroad-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-04.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Turkey The new railroad between Kars, Turkey, and Akhalkalaki, Georgia, will eventually run right next to the small Turkish village of Karakale, where posters of Atatürk in a shop reflect national pride.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/05-masked-soldier-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-05.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Georgia A Georgian soldier, masked to disguise his identity, stands guard at the border with South Ossetia, a republic that broke away from Georgia. In 2008 Georgian troops attacked South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, just beyond this sandbagged post, hoping to quell the secessionist movement. They were routed when Russian troops came to the Ossetians' aid.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/06-trackside-market-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-06.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Georgia A bustling trackside market in Tbilisi offers a taste of what Georgians hope soon to gain: an economic boost as trains pass through their country en route from oil-rich Azerbaijan to trade partner Turkey and beyond.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/07-work-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-07.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Georgia The railway provides work for many, including these men digging a drainage ditch along a freshly cleared railbed between Akhalkalaki and the Turkish border.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/08-morning-commute-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-08.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Georgia Georgians make the morning commute from the capital, Tbilisi, to jobs in nearby Rustavi in the existing railway's faded cars.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/09-crowded-lake-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-09.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Georgia Spring warmth draws a crowd to a lake on the outskirts of Tbilisi. Georgia seeks greater ties with western Europe—and security in the shadow of Russia, the giant to its north. In 2008 Russia routed Georgian forces from South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a short-lived war.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/10-slaughterhouses-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-10.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Azerbaijan Makeshift slaughterhouses line the road to the mosque in Şüvälän during the Kurban Bayram holiday, when sheep are killed to commemorate Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to God. The meat is shared with the poor.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/11-baku-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-11.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Azerbaijan In the capital of Baku modern construction dwarfs a figure from the past—the father of Azerbaijani communism, Nariman Narimanov.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/12-oil-pumps-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-12.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Azerbaijan Rusting oil pumps from the Soviet era fill the horizon outside the city, where obsolete equipment and poor extraction techniques pollute the landscape.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/13-caspian-promenade-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-13.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Azerbaijan A promenade along the Caspian Sea attracts residents of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, for an afternoon stroll. Increased oil production has enriched the nation; Azerbaijan hopes the completion of the new railroad will spur energy exports.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/14-azerbaijani-refugee-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-14.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Azerbaijan An Azerbaijani refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh huddles in his Baku home beneath a picture of his wife, now dead. When ethnic Armenians won control of the enclave in the early 1990s, some 800,000 Azerbaijanis fled the region.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/15-dusk-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-15.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Nagorno-Karabakh Dusk settles over Stepanakert, capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region, part of Azerbaijan, was seized by ethnic Armenians during the violent conflict in the early 1990s. Azerbaijani politicians have threatened a new war to win the region back.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/16-fish-market-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-16.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Nagorno-Karabakh Ad hoc advertising hangs outside a fish market in Shusha, a town in Nagorno-Karabakh. Many residents of Shusha are ethnic Armenians who migrated from Azerbaijan after Armenians won control of it in the early 1990s.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/17-license-plates-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-17.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Nagorno-Karabakh The license plates were taken from cars abandoned by Azerbaijanis fleeing their homes as Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over control of the region in the early 1990s. Now they line roadside walls in the town of Vank and are seen as trophies of victory.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/18-hilltop-church-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-18.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Armenia A couple waits to be married in a hilltop church above Lake Sevan. Isolated and landlocked, Armenia has been left out of the regional railroad plan because of political tensions with Turkey and Azerbaijan.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/19-poor-households-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-19.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Armenia Poor households like this one in Yerevan, with a father napping at left, are common in Armenia, where almost a quarter of the population lives in poverty. Despite miles of serviceable train line, Armenia was left out of the new Transcaucasian rail scheme because of ongoing tensions with Turkey and Azerbaijan, so it won't reap any of its economic benefits.]]> /2010/08/turkey/img/20-hero-714.jpg /2010/08/turkey/img/turkey-60-20.jpg Photograph by Alex Webb Armenia The wife (at right) and mother of Jivan Abrahamyan, an Armenian killed in the early 1990s war over Nagorno-Karabakh, visit his grave in a military cemetery in Yerablur, Armenia. The former militiaman is considered a national hero.]]>