Azerbaijan located on the junction of the two big markets of the East and the West managed not only to realize its export potential but also become a major transit link between Europe and Asia. Oil and gas resources were the first to flow along the corridor and now the implementation of the railroad project Baku-Tbilisi-Kars has reached the stage of completion.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev emphasized the role of transport corridors in his congratulation letter dated August 11 addressed to Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the occasion of his victory at presidential elections in Turkey: “Our successful and multilateral cooperation, grandiose projects Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum implemented by means of our joint efforts, under construction Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, a recently launched TANAP and other projects raise the importance of our countries as well as the entire region in a global scale, and are promoting peace, cooperation and development in the region”.
The current implementation stage of this project of international importance as well as other issues were thoroughly discussed at the 20th session of the coordinating council of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad project in Baku on August 13 held under the chairmanship of Ziya Mammadov, Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan, and George Kvirikashvili, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Vice Premier of Georgia.
Speaking to journalists, Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan Ziya Mammadov said that the session had been fruitful. He noted that the whole work scheduled within the framework of the BTK railroad project is carried out successfully. Only construction of a section to the length of a little over 20km is remained at the Georgian part of the railroad in the direction of the Turkish border. There are no serious problems left for completion of this work. “The work on rails construction is currently underway. Construction of this section is to be completed in October. In the meantime, the operations at Akhalkalaki station will have been completed by the end of the year. Thus, we are going to complete the considerable part of work assigned to us at the Georgian section”, Minister Ziya Mammadov said.
Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan noted that the finish work in Turkey would be carried out in the following year. Thus, the BTK railroad will be fully ready for operation.
Noting that there are no serious problems for construction of the BTK road, George Kvirikashvili emphasized that Georgia attaches big importance to this project. “Conduction of such meetings for operative solution of assigned tasks is a positive fact. I hope that our successful cooperation will keep promoting the welfare of our people. BTK will make a particular contribution to the economic development of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and bring our countries closer to one another”, George Kvirikashvili said.
Many countries of the region are interested in the project. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway can promote trade development between China and Arabic states, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov says. “The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars can secure diversification of trade routes between China and Arabic states. The railway can potentially be linked to the system of railroads connecting the member-states of the Gulf Cooperation Council”, E.Mammadyarov noted.
In future the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) can be a project capable to change the situation in the region, President of Turkey Abdullah Gul said at the third summit of leaders of CCTS. “The Turkic speaking states are located in the region connecting Europe and Asia, North and South. The BTK project, which Azerbaijan and Turkey are jointly implementing, plays an important role in connecting these regions”, President of Turkey noted. According to the Head of the State of the Republic of Turkey, the continuation of this project and setting of direct connection between the Baku-Aktau and Baku-Turkmenbashi ports will play a positive role. “Implementation of the Silk Road project is the key to political strengthening and economic development of the Turkic world”, Abdullah Gul emphasized.
“The commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will enable to carry out experimental transportation of containers from China and Kazakhstan along the conditional route “port of Aktau – the Caspian Sea –Baku port – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Tbilisi – Kars – Marmara tunnel – Europe”, Akif Mustafayev, National Secretary of TRACECA to Azerbaijan, said.
Opening of the “Baku-Tbilisi-Kars” railroad will give impulse to development of trade relations in the region. The business of Kazakhstan is very interested in this project, Kadir Kasabulatov, Deputy Director of the RK MFA Department for CIS, said in his interview with Azerbaijani journalists.
Afghanistan has also expressed interest to the project, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov said. In June Turkmenistan and Afghanistan discussed issues of implementation of concrete economic and infrastructure projects including the possibility of creation of the transit-transport corridor Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia.
The most beneficial and competitive tariffs compared to those of the air transport will be provided for the users of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad users, Deputy Minister of Transport of Azerbaijan Musa Panakhov told journalists on Thursday.
