PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV ATTENDS GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY OF TURKISH STRETCH OF BTK RAILWAY
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Abdullah Gul of Turkey and Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia as well as officials from the European Union, USA and other countries attended Thursday the groundbreaking ceremony of the Turkish section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in Kars.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, also called Iron Silk Road, will link China with Europe.
The ceremony started with opening remarks of Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim who called the 76-km railroad a landmark event. According to him, this project will make Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia even closer. Construction of the railway began on November 21 at the Marabda station in Georgia and is set to be completed in 2011.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili described BTK railway as the one of the major projects of the century. He pointed out BTK railway would allow boosting export potential of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia. Saakashvili noted this project could have never been realized without President Ilham Aliyev`s persistence.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev characterized the groundbreaking ceremony of the BTK railway as the landmark in the cooperation among the three countries. He described the BTK railway project as the example of effective cooperation. Thanks to the political will of the three countries, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum projects are being implemented, and BTK project is another success of this cooperation.
Turkish President Gul described BTK railway project as the revival of the Silk Road. According to him, this project will link not only Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia but also Europe and Asia.
By early estimation, this railway will be carrying 1.5 million passengers and 6 million tons of cargo in 2010 and 3.5 million people and 16.5 million tons in 2034.
Kazakhstan signed the protocol to link up to the line.
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