Turkey accelerates the construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway

Turkey will accelerate the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project, said Ahmet Arslan, Turkish Minister of Transport, Navigation, and Communications.

“Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway project is very important for the region. The missing link of the Iron Silk Road will be completed at the end of this year. There is a big potential of trade volume in the region around 31 trillion dollars. This project will provide new opportunities for all of us,” he said.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of an agreement between Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. Its total length is 826 kilometers. After the railway will start functioning, it is expected that mutual trade between countries will increase significantly and may exceed $10 billion per year.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (BTK) will handle 5 million tons of cargo and in the future, the capacity will reach up to 17 million tons.