Azernews.Az

Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim has said that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway is a strategic project of the region and symbolizes regional cooperation, AzerTac state news agency reported.

During his visit to Kars province, he noted the project that connected Middle East and Caucasus to Europe and Far East through Turkey would play an important role in developing the region.

The Turkish minister said the construction work was carried out in BTK`s 76 km-long Turkish segment.

"The construction will speed up next year," Yildirim said. "We want to complete the construction of the railway`s Baku-Kars segment and to realize test visits. The project`s 26 km-long Georgian section is being constructed, and reconstruction work continues at the facility`s 160 km-long part from Akhalkalaki to Tbilisi and Baku. All this work will cost a total of 3 billion Turkish liras, while 350 million Turkish liras were invested in Turkish part of the project. The other important issue is the construction of Kars logistics centre and Nakhchivan-Kars railway."

Stressing the importance of the Nakhchivan-Kars project for the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, Yildirim said the feasibility study for the project was carried out. "The 335 km-long railway that amounts $1.5 billion will join Nakhchivan not only to Kars, but also to Erzurum. An alternative route will be built from Nakhchivan to the Middle Asia and Near East."