Turkish PM thanks Georgian PM for contribution to Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway
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Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has thanked the Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili for his contribution to the successful implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project facilitating the transport of passengers and goods between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The pair talked over the phone this morning.
Kvirikashvili stressed the role of Yildirim in the modernisation of the transport sector of Turkey in recent years.
Later today, Kvirikashvili will attend the official opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway.
The first train of the BTK railway, a key link in the modern Silk Road Railway that aims to carry goods between Beijing and London, is set to depart today from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku with Kvirikashvili in attendance along with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Initially the railway is expected to carry nearly 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight annually before unlocking a freight transportation potential of up to 50 million tons per year.
The first freight train from Azerbaijan will run to Turkey through Georgia in about two months – the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project is nearing the completion.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway, an important section in the middle of the modern Silk Road, will soon be fully commissioned, increasing connectivity among Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, which facilitates the transport of passengers and goods between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, will be fully commissioned at the beginning of 2017.
Georgia has completed building its section of the $600 million USD Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.
At the opening ceremony in Baku Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated that the railway would "change the current economic reality, providing totally new economic opportunities in the region and beyond.”The PM declared that the coming of the new railway into full force would encourage transit and logistic potential and would further strengthen the region’s trade and transportation status.
The European Union (EU) has welcomed the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and said it is a major step in transport connections linking the EU, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia.