📩 26/09/2023 14:32
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu stated that the Zangezur Corridor connection, which will provide direct railway and road transportation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, will connect the entire Turkish world and said, “We have accelerated our work to complete it as soon as possible. We also signed the Kars-Nakhchivan Railway Project yesterday. "It is especially vital for normalization in the Caucasus," he said.
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu attended the program organized specifically for the 167th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of Turkey State Railways (TCDD) at Ankara High Speed Train (YHT) Station. Speaking here, Uraloğlu said that the railways have been of the Turkish nation since the first rail was laid on the Izmir-Aydın line in 1856; Stating that it carries the history of joys, pains, separations and reunions in its heart and that it has witnessed the last 167 years of Anatolian lands, he said, “Over the years, our railways have not only carried freight and passengers, but also carried the values that ensure our unity and solidarity and make us who we are, in their wagons. Our railways have entered a period of stagnation since the 1950s; "During the AK Party Governments led by our President, transportation policies became state policy again," he said.
“WE CREATED THE SAFEEST INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY CORRIDOR FROM LONDON TO BEIJING WITH MARMARAY”
Stating that they have invested approximately 20 billion liras in railways in the last 880 years, renewing all of the lines and making major investments, improvement and development moves, Uraloğlu said, “Thus, our railways removed the dead soil on them. We built the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, which aims to revitalize the historical Silk Road. With this project, we have created the safest, shortest and most economical international railway corridor from London to Beijing with Marmaray, which enables uninterrupted railway transportation between the Asian and European continents. Our railway length, which was approximately 2003 thousand kilometers in 11; As of 2023, we have added approximately 2 thousand kilometers, 250 thousand 3 kilometers of which are YHT and High Speed train lines. We increased it to 14 thousand kilometers. With our high-speed trains, we have provided comfortable, fast and modern travel service, directly and indirectly, to 19 provinces and approximately 50 percent of our country's population. Our goal is to increase the number of provinces receiving high-speed train service to 2053 by 52 and to provide it to the majority of our population. We have carried approximately 2009 million passengers with high-speed trains since 77,5. "We predict that we will break a historical record by carrying 2023 million passengers with our high-speed trains in 12,5," he said.
“OUR COUNTRY HAS BECOME THE CENTRAL COUNTRY IN TRANSIT RAIL TRANSPORTATION”
For Türkiye, the starting point of Europe; Stating that they consider the 'One Belt One Road Project' as a very important opportunity in terms of connecting Asia, Europe and the Middle East, Uraloğlu said, "In order for the 'Central Corridor' of this project to become the 'New Silk Road', as we call it, the eastern part of the country will also be important." -We are implementing projects one by one that will complete the missing transportation connections in the west and north-south axis. Our Marmaray, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, which we have built in the last 20 years; As the golden ring of the Central Corridor, it enables uninterrupted railway transportation between continents. Approximately 1 million 500 thousand tons of cargo have been transported on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line so far. With this line from Turkey; In the West, to many points in Europe, especially Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Poland, Romania, Czechia, Slovakia, Serbia and France, in the East; to Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan; We operate freight trains to and from Russia in the north, and to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and China in Central Asia. "While Marmaray and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line via the Middle Corridor line make the world smaller, our country has become the center country in transit railway transportation," he said.
“WE AIM TO REACH 1 MILLION TONS OF TRANSPORTATION BETWEEN Türkiye AND IRAN”
Stating that they have strengthened the transportation network and freight transportation sector with new destinations in railways, Uraloğlu said, “In 2021, by adding the Karabakh route to the freight transportation on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Line, we have further increased the freight transportation between Turkey and Azerbaijan with the Turkuaz Express. In addition, cooperation with the railway administrations of the relevant countries to transport cargo to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asian countries and China via Iran is also yielding results. In addition, transportation to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Turkish Republics via Turkey-Iran is increasing. "While the transportation between Turkey and Iran is increasing day by day, we aim to reach 1 million tons of these transportation in the first stage," he said.
“WE ACCELERATED OUR WORK TO COMPLETE THE ZENGEZUR CORRIDOR ASAP”
Reminding that the other day, together with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, they paid a one-day working visit to Nakhchivan upon the invitation of Azerbaijani President İlham Aliyev, Uraloğlu said, “We attended the Iğdır-Nakhchivan Natural Gas Pipeline Groundbreaking Ceremony and held bilateral meetings. One of the main issues within the scope of the talks was the Zangezur Corridor. Zangezur Corridor is an important project that concerns not only Nakhchivan's transportation with Azerbaijan, but also all Turkish States with its young and dynamic population of 160 million and its economic size exceeding 1 trillion dollars. The implementation of the Zangezur Corridor connection, which will provide direct rail and road transportation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, will actually connect the entire Turkish world. It is also of vital importance for normalization, especially in the Caucasus. After yesterday's meetings, we accelerated our work to complete this line as soon as possible. "We signed the Kars-Nakhchivan Railway Project," he said.
Stating that the Zengezur Corridor will provide new opportunities for the development of economic cooperation in the South Caucasus in the future, Uraloğlu said, “With the Zengezur Corridor becoming operational, the railway and road freight carrying capacity of the middle corridor will increase, which will increase the Eastern -It will contribute positively to the increase of Western trade. "With the increase in the effectiveness of the middle corridor, it will be able to be developed on Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea, and the importance of our country's strategic position in the region will increase," he said.