President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his wife Emine Erdoğan, as well as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakhstan Prime Minister Bakıtcan Sagintayev, Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, at the opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, held at Alat Harbor, approximately 90 kilometers from Baku. and Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikaşvili. Officials from Turkmenistan and Tajikistan were also present at the ceremony.
UDH Minister Ahmet Arslan, Deputy Minister Yüksel Coşkunyürek, UDHB Undersecretary Suat Hayri Aka, Deputy Undersecretary Orhan Birdal, AYGM General Manager Erol Çıtak, General Director of TCDD İsa Apaydın, TCDD Taşımacılık A.Ş. General Manager Veysi Kurt took part in the delegation attending the ceremony.
President Erdoğan es The work of our Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line-
Speaking here, President Erdoğan said: “First of all, I would like to thank my dear friend Aliyev and the Azerbaijani authorities for hosting this important event for their hospitality. I would especially like to thank Kazakhstan, Georgia and Uzbekistan prime ministers for their excitement today. ” started by saying.
Emphasizing that he is very pleased to be present at this ceremony due to the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, Erdogan said: “Today, we are taking a very important step in terms of our future. With this ceremony, we put one of the rings of the new Silk Road initiative, which was launched with the goal of connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. With the first flight of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the most important pillar of the middle corridor project is completed. Thus, we declare that an uninterrupted railway connection has been established from London to China. This project, which is the result of our determination and vision, is the common success of all of us. ” used the expression.
President Erdoğan said, “The project, which is the work of our determination and vision, is very valuable because it is implemented with effort, dedication and hard work, regarding the“ Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway ”line.
“We offered many complementary services to the public”
Erdogan, the investments made in Turkey especially in recent years, underlining what 15 struggling to pass this potential into his life, he continued:
“To date, we have offered many services to the public, complementary to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. Some of these are the construction of Marmaray high-speed train lines, the renewal of existing train lines, and the third bridge that we built in Istanbul with a rail system transition. These investments we have made further increase the efficiency and attractiveness of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.
With the Alat port of Azerbaijan, we connect not only 3 countries but also all Central Asian Republics to Western transportation routes. Likewise, we connect Turkmenistan to Europe via the Turkmenbashi Port and Kazakhstan through Aktau Port. The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project will have a capacity of 1 million passengers and 6,5 million tons of cargo. ”
Noting that the capacity of the line will reach 2034 million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo in 17, President Erdoğan pointed out that this will significantly reduce costs in freight transportation.
“24 million tons of additional cargo will be carried”
Erdogan said the project will offer the most advantageous opportunities for shippers on time and distance on the historic Silk Road.
Erdogan stated that the cargo coming from China will reach the European Union countries over the middle corridor through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project after the whole of the high-speed train lines, and said, “Currently, the amount of cargo to Europe via China is 12 million tons. it is on. Even if 15 percent of this load is carried through the middle corridor passing through our countries, 240 million tons of additional cargo will be carried. ” found the assessment.
“The project will bring stability and prosperity”
Erdoğan, of course, pointed out that the return of such a line to the region would not be only economic, he added:
“The project will bring political, peace, security and stability, social welfare, and contribute to the human development of our countries with mobility as well as information and human mobility. As the ancient states of the region, we can realize much larger projects as long as we act in solidarity and cooperation. Projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum and TANAP, which we have realized so far, are the guarantees of our future. ”
İlham Aliyev İl did not believe that the ICTA Project would be completed İl
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway in Azerbaijan, Georgia and stated that Turkey realized thanks to the will, "he did not believe some foreign circles BTK construction. But the three countries showed that when there is strong will and trust, all work can be done. The three countries will be together and support each other. This project will increase our economic opportunities. ” said
“BTK Project will create a bridge between Asia and Europe”
In his speech at the ceremony, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikaşvili described the opening of the BTK as an important event for three countries and regions, stating that the project will provide the opportunity to provide the products needed by the developing markets through new channels, and the project will also contribute to the world economy.
“BTK will be an important transit hub of Kazakhstan”
Kazakhstan Prime Minister Bakıtcan Sagintayev also stated that they are one of the first countries to support BTK as Kazakhstan.
Sagintayev said, “In the last 9 years, our country has made huge investments in transportation logistics. We renewed the roads and the port of Aktau. BTK will increase the transit power of Kazakhstan in Caspian. It will reach 25 million tons of power per year. With BTK, we have provided the shortest route to pass Caspian from China, Central Asia. Transportation to Eastern Europe through the Caspian will be twice as fast. ” said.
“BTK will bring prosperity”
Uzbekistan Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov said that BTK is very important in terms of delivering products produced in Central Asia to a wide geography.
Emphasizing that they have a very strong transportation corridor with BTK, Aripov said, “BTK offers us short and direct transportation from China to Europe. We will increase our shipping volume. We believe that BTK will bring prosperity to our region. ” he spoke.
Following the inauguration speeches of the era of the symbolic last nail rails and trains that transported grain from Kazakhstan brought the leaders bid farewell to Turkey, made a journey to another time and 12 minutes by train from the port Alata Station.
The BTK railway, the transport of an important alternative to creating a corridor, a partner in the Sino-European rail traffic with the BTK and the Marmaray Turkey is expected to assume an important role. Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the 76 kilometer railway was built under a joint project of Turkey, 259 kilometers in Georgia, 503 kilometers passes through the territory of Azerbaijan.
At first, Kazakhstan (Kökşetav) at the Port in Turkey (Mersin) moving grain brought to the harbor. The train, carrying a total of 15 wagons and 500 tons of wheat, will travel 4695 kilometers in total and will complete its journey in 180 hours.
railway silk road is good It is late but if business is accelerated and inconsequential, it provides material and moral benefits to the country. The normal (1435mm) line between Kars and Baku will provide additional revenue as well as tcdd wagons. This route does not have a wide path (1520 line).