Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 21
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway directly links Turkey with Asia, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said, the country’s media reported Dec. 21.
Turkey has always paid special attention to this significant transport project, he noted.
“As the Armenian-Turkish border is closed, BTK is the main corridor ensuring Turkey’s access to Asia,” Yildirim said.
The BTK railway was built on the basis of the Azerbaijani-Georgian-Turkish interstate agreement. The maximum volume of cargo transportation along the BTK corridor is projected at 17 million tons per year. At the initial stage, this indicator will be 6.5 million tons of cargo. Also up to one million passengers will be transported via BTK.
A solemn ceremony to open the BTK railway was held on Oct. 30, and the first freight train on this railway was sent from Kazakhstan's Kokshetau on Oct. 24.