Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 3
By Orkhan Quluzade – Trend:
It is necessary to build the Kars-Igdir-Nakhchivan railway in addition to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway in order to transport cargos from east to west, Ahmet Arslan, Turkey’s minister of transport, maritime and communication, said Mar. 3, Turkish media reported.
The Kars-Igdir-Nakhchivan railway will be an additional corridor connecting Turkey with Iran and Pakistan, Arslan noted.
The minister added that the prospect of development of these railway corridors was discussed during the 13th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in Pakistan.
Arslan said the construction of the BTK has neared its final stage, adding that new railway projects will attract additional investments to Turkey.
The BTK railway is being constructed on the basis of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey intergovernmental agreement.
Peak capacity of the railway will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, it will serve one million passengers and transport 6.5 million tons of cargo.
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