Baku, Azerbaijan, August 20
Trend:
The international "North-South" transport corridor, which will connect tens of countries, today is a very big step towards development of countries, their stability and security, Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Azerbaijani presidential administration, chief of the administration's foreign relations department, told reporters in Baku.
Speaking about the trilateral meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian and Iranian presidents, which took place Aug. 8 in Baku, Mammadov said that "North-South" corridor is one of the big projects of this century.
"Possibly, [this project], in a way, indirectly, is used as tool to pressure Azerbaijan. Once again, I'd like to repeat that Azerbaijan is on its own path, takes the right steps. Our country resists all the steps taken against it, and considers such steps unacceptable," Mammadov said.
The North-South transportation corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, the North-South corridor will transport 5 million tons of cargo per year with further expansion of transportation to over 10 million tons.