Umut Bridge

Umut Bridge (Turkish: Umut Köprüsü, Azerbaijani: Ümid Körpüsü, transl. Hope Bridge), historically known as the Boraltan Bridge, is a 286-metre-long (938 ft) deck-arch bridge crossing the Aras river on the Azerbaijan–Turkey border. The current bridge was constructed between 1991 and 1992 and formally opened on 25 May 1992, along with the Dilucu customs checkpoint.

Umut Bridge

Umut Köprüsü
Ümid Körpüsü
Coordinates39°39′19″N 44°48′12″E
Carries2 lanes of D.080 and M-7
CrossesAras river
LocaleDilucu, Iğdır, Turkey and Sederek, Nakhchivan
Official nameTurkish: Umut Köprüsü
Azerbaijani: Ümid Körpüsü
Maintained byGeneral Directorate of Highways
Preceded byBoraltan Bridge
Characteristics
Total length286 m (938 ft)
History
Construction start1991
Opened22 May 1992
Statistics
Daily traffic2,560[1]
Location

The original bridge was historically known for an incident in 1945 between the Soviet Union and Turkey, known as the Boraltan Bridge massacre (Turkish: Boraltan Köprüsü faciası). The incident saw the return of 195 Soviet soldiers, convicted of fighting for Germany during World War II, back into the Soviet Union by the Turkish government. Due to rising tensions between the USSR and Turkey, the convicted soldiers were handed over in order to prevent any further escalation of tensions. Shortly after the soldiers crossed the border, they were summarily executed under charges of treason.[2]

The bridge marks the location of a potential new quadripoint border additionally involving a direct Armenia-Iran crossing that could be introduced as concession to any territorial swap of the 'Meghri corridor' as originally proposed by the so called "Goble Plan".[3] [4]

Turkey has also stated its intention to construct a railway bridge at more-or-less the same location as part of its plan to build a railway from Kars to Nakhchivan via Iğdır.[5] [6]

References
  1. SINIR TİCARETİ VE SINIR KAPILARI: Sosyo-Ekonomik Bir Analiz Sorunlar ve Çözüm Önerileri (PDF) (in Turkish). 12 May 2013. ISBN 978-605-63661-0-9.
  2. Boraltan Köprüsü Olayi (In Turkish)
  3. "Goble Plan" (1992)
  4. How the "Goble Plan" was born and how it remains a political factor: 'Were I asked to update the Goble Plan now, I would modify it by calling for Azerbaijan to cede a small portion of western Nakhichevan so that Armenia could (continue to) have a border with Iran' reliefweb.int June 2000
  5. Turkey announces its intention to build a railway to Azerbaijan rbc.ru 12 Nov 2020
  6. Kars-Nakhchivan-Iran railway indicative route railturkey.org

Umut Bridge quadripoint proposal

South Caucasus railway map

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