Baku, Azerbaijan, July 11
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Such important projects as the Southern Gas Corridor and TANAP, which is a major part of this project, further strengthen Azerbaijan's role on the world energy market.
However, Azerbaijan is a country that is not limited to the energy projects. Today, Azerbaijan has been implementing the Baku - Tbilisi - Kars (BTK) railway project. This is one of the most important projects not only for the region but for the whole Europe and Asia.
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani president's decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities' dated February 21, 2007.
A new 105-kilometer branch of the railroad is being constructed as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the railway's Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi section is under reconstruction in Georgia that will increase its capacity to 15 million metric tons of cargo per year. A depot is under construction in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing tracks in Georgia to the European ones.
The geographical location of Azerbaijan makes it an important country for the transportation of cargo from Europe to Asia. Of course, after putting BTK into operation, Azerbaijan's role in this issue will further increase.
Taking into account the current serious problems in Iran, which is the main trunk country for cargo transportation from Turkey, Azerbaijan can be such a country.
Earlier, Cetin Nuhoglu, the head of the Turkish International Road Carriers Association, said that Iran creates artificial obstacles to Turkish carriers.
"Some 70 percent of the Turkish goods are delayed due to the Iranian side," he said.
In his turn, Elif Sevim, the member of the executive board of the association, previously told Trend, that Turkey is considering an opportunity of using the Georgia - Azerbaijan route for cargo transportation to Turkmenistan bypassing Iran.
Earlier, the Turkish authorities have repeatedly complained to the Iranian side about the delay of Turkish trucks.
Currently, Turkish trucks are delayed for a long time on the Turkish-Iranian and Iranian-Turkmen borders, sometimes up to 10 days. If Azerbaijan becomes a transit country, it is possible to shorten this period twofold. This is in the interests of Turkey. Taking this into account, one can say that sooner or later Azerbaijan will become a transit country for cargo transportation from Turkey to Turkmenistan via ro-ro vessels.
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
