Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan Abdullah Gül and Ilham Aliyev highly appreciate the realization of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. The two Presidents met in Kars on 24 July morning prior to the founding ceremony of the Turkish section of Baku-Tbilis-Kars railway.

Ilham Aliyev described the realization of this project as a historical event which will contribute to prosperity of the region and perspectives of transportation of cargo from Asia to Europe.

According to Gül, railway will revive the historical Silk Way and will enable to transport cargo from China to Europe. The project will make a significant contribution to the economic development of the region, improvement of living standards of the people and it will further strengthen the cooperation among Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Gül said.

The founding ceremony of the Turkish section of the railway will be held in Kars on 24 July with the Presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia being in attendance.

The Baku- Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki- Kars railway project includes the construction of 105km-railway lines, with 76 km section running via Turkey and 29 km section via Georgia. Moreover, 183 km section of Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway will be also reconstructed to improve the carrying capacity to 15mln tons of cargo per year. It is planned to build in Akhalkalaki a facility for the transition of trains from the track existing in Georgia to the European one. The project is estimated at $422mln and including the accompanying infrastructure its cost will comprise $600mln. /TrendNews/

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