ANKARA, Aug 23 (NNN-TRT) – Türkiye, yesterday, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a railway, linking its north-eastern Kars province, with Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave.
The 224-kilometre railway line, is designed as a critical link within the South Caucasus transit corridor, known as Zangezur Corridor.
During a ceremony in the eastern province of Igdir, Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, said, the new railway line will serve as a vital development move, by providing a new transportation link between Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave.
The railway project, with an estimated cost of 2.4 billion euros (2.8 billion U.S. dollars), will include five stations, five tunnels, 19 cut-and-cover tunnels, 10 bridges, three viaducts, 144 underpasses, 27 overpasses, and 480 culverts, the Turkish minister said.
Uraloglu emphasised that, once completed, the line will connect Azerbaijan with Türkiye’s south-eastern and Mediterranean regions, as well as link the Caspian and Mediterranean basins.
The project is expected to give a significant boost to regional cooperation, development, production, exports, and tourism, according to the minister.
“With the Kars-Igdir-Aralik-Dilucu railway line, we are taking one of the most concrete first steps towards realising the Zangezur Corridor. This project will leave its mark, not only on Türkiye’s future, but also on that of the South Caucasus and Eurasia,” he said.
He said that, the corridor would strengthen economic cooperation between Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Armenia, while fostering regional peace.– NNN-TRT
