The Minister noted that Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki Railway Project had been drawn up at the beginning of 1960, adding that together with China, Kazakhstan also participates in the project. “In case of realization of the project, each person moving from Kars with railway may reach Shanghai,” the Minister emphasized, saying that on completion of the Marmaray Project, each Chinese citizen may travel to Great Britain.   

“The Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki railway will be ready within two years, and approximately 20 million tons of cargo will be transported through the railway annually,” the Minister stressed, spelling out that today the cargo transportation through all rail links of Turkey forms less than 18 million tons annually.

“The Project will change the face of all regions and help its prosperity,” Turkish Minister pointed out. 

In addition, the Turkish Transport Minister stressed that in relation to the problems with Armenia, the Eastern regions of the Country have shared closeness for many years. “Because of this, Caucasus and Asian countries were united for the railway transportations to Europe,” Yildirim said, mentioning that from a strategic point of view, the Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki railway is very optimistic. The Minister once again mentioned the figure of $250 million that is needed for the completion of the project. “The stretch of 79 km up to the border with Georgia will be constructed at the expense of Turkey, but the 25 km stretch in the territory of Georgia at the expense of allocations by the Georgian Government. At the same time, works will be carried out for the modernization of all stretches from Tbilisi to Baku,” Yildirim stated. 

It was further stated that the engineering works for the project started in 2001, and for the first stage, it was necessary to spend $463 million on the construction of the rail link. “Even China offered low rate credits for the commencement of works. Peking Government particularly voiced its readiness to allocate credit for 13 years, with 5.5% annual rate. However, Turkish government refused to receive the credit, as it did not wish to provide State guarantee for the credit,” Turkish Transport Minister concluded.