POLITICS
Turkey, Azerbaijan solidarity keeps 'getting stronger'
Baku, November 1, AZERTAC
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday hailed the fact that the bonds of solidarity between Turkey and Azerbaijan was continuing to "get stronger", according to Anadolu Agency.
Speaking at a news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev following the 6th Turkey-Azerbaijan High-Level Strategic Council meeting in capital Baku, Erdogan said: "The solidarity between Turkey and Azerbaijan in political, military, economic, cultural areas continues to get stronger."
The president also praised the first official train service to connect Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia -- the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project, which was launched on Monday.
The 826-kilometer (513-mile) railway project connecting Baku with Turkey's northeastern Kars province via Tbilisi was launched in 2007 and construction began in 2008.
Erdogan said the railway line would not only serve passengers but also provide freight service that would lead to an economic boost.
He noted that bilateral trade volume between the countries was $1.6 billion, adding: "I believe that we will soon reach $5 billion."
About the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP), Erdogan said work linked to the project was continuing "intensively".
"In a short period of time, Azeri gas starts to flow to Europe," he added.