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AN IRON SILK ROAD OFFICIALLY IN THE MAKING
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 8 2007
Turkish, Georgian and Azeri leaders signed yesterday an agreement
paving the way for the construction of a railway officials say will
revive a historic East-West trade route and further deepen regional
cooperation among the three countries.
"[By signing the agreement] we will be able to soon realize this
project, one of the most important elements in our objective of
reviving the historic Silk Road," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
told reporters before flying to the Georgian capital Tbilisi to sign
a framework agreement with Georgian and Azerbaijani leaders, Mikhail
Saakashvili and Ilham Aliyev, to start work on the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku
railway.
The project envisions the construction of a 105-kilometer railway
between Turkey's eastern province of Kars and Ahýlkelek in Georgia.
An additional 150-kilometer railway between Ahýlkelek and Tbilisi
will be renovated, Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yýldýrým,
who accompanied Erdoðan in his trip, told reporters in Tbilisi.
The project, whose estimated cost stands at $420 million, also
envisions the renovation of a 165-kilometer railway in Azerbaijan to
be linked to the Turkish-Georgian route. Authorities say construction
is planned to start later this year and be rapidly completed, probably
in the following couple of years.
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia already cooperate on regional natural
gas and oil transportation projects, namely the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline, which became operational last year, and the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline that is set to bring natural gas from
Azerbaijan's Shahdeniz fields to Turkey via Georgia. When completed,
the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project will provide a major means
for cargo transportation between the three countries. The railway
networks in the region promise to link Europe with Central Asia and
China through the Caucasus.
Erdoðan said the railway would offer a safe and reliable transportation
route when connected to a railway route yet-to-be constructed between
China and the Aktau port of Kazakhstan in the East and with the
European railway network via a planned undersea tunnel that would go
beneath the Marmara Sea in northwestern Anatolia in the West.
"The project provides the most economical, shortest and safest
transportation route between the East and the West," Yýldýrým
confidently asserted. He said 20 years after its opening, the railway
would be capable of transporting some 30 million tons of goods every
year. Erdoðan said the project would strengthen relations among the
regional countries and give a boost to development efforts across
the region.
Not an alternative to railway with Armenia The project comes despite
strong opposition from Armenian groups in the United States who
successfully lobbied for a prohibition that was put in place last
year by the US Congress on financing the project with US government
funds. The project was given the cold shoulder in US political
circles, although the regional oil and gas pipeline projects are
strongly supported.
Armenia and US-based Armenian groups say the project is unnecessary
since there is already a railway between Turkey and Armenia and that
can serve the same purpose.
Yýldýrým, commenting on Armenian opposition, said the railway between
Turkey and Armenia could not be used due to the lack of formal
relations between the two countries. But he added that this should
not mean that the existing railway would never be used.
"This railway [between Turkey and Armenia] will be used when
the dispute is resolved in the future," Yýldýrým said. "The
Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway should not be used as an alternative to it."
In Tbilisi, Erdoðan also attended a ceremony to inaugurate the new
Tbilisi International Airport, built by the Turkish-led Tepe-Akfen-Vie
consortium.
--Boundary_(ID_zuDDh3L jLp3k7gqfIyI4ZA)--
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Feb 8 2007
Turkish, Georgian and Azeri leaders signed yesterday an agreement
paving the way for the construction of a railway officials say will
revive a historic East-West trade route and further deepen regional
cooperation among the three countries.
"[By signing the agreement] we will be able to soon realize this
project, one of the most important elements in our objective of
reviving the historic Silk Road," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan
told reporters before flying to the Georgian capital Tbilisi to sign
a framework agreement with Georgian and Azerbaijani leaders, Mikhail
Saakashvili and Ilham Aliyev, to start work on the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku
railway.
The project envisions the construction of a 105-kilometer railway
between Turkey's eastern province of Kars and Ahýlkelek in Georgia.
An additional 150-kilometer railway between Ahýlkelek and Tbilisi
will be renovated, Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yýldýrým,
who accompanied Erdoðan in his trip, told reporters in Tbilisi.
The project, whose estimated cost stands at $420 million, also
envisions the renovation of a 165-kilometer railway in Azerbaijan to
be linked to the Turkish-Georgian route. Authorities say construction
is planned to start later this year and be rapidly completed, probably
in the following couple of years.
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia already cooperate on regional natural
gas and oil transportation projects, namely the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline, which became operational last year, and the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline that is set to bring natural gas from
Azerbaijan's Shahdeniz fields to Turkey via Georgia. When completed,
the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway project will provide a major means
for cargo transportation between the three countries. The railway
networks in the region promise to link Europe with Central Asia and
China through the Caucasus.
Erdoðan said the railway would offer a safe and reliable transportation
route when connected to a railway route yet-to-be constructed between
China and the Aktau port of Kazakhstan in the East and with the
European railway network via a planned undersea tunnel that would go
beneath the Marmara Sea in northwestern Anatolia in the West.
"The project provides the most economical, shortest and safest
transportation route between the East and the West," Yýldýrým
confidently asserted. He said 20 years after its opening, the railway
would be capable of transporting some 30 million tons of goods every
year. Erdoðan said the project would strengthen relations among the
regional countries and give a boost to development efforts across
the region.
Not an alternative to railway with Armenia The project comes despite
strong opposition from Armenian groups in the United States who
successfully lobbied for a prohibition that was put in place last
year by the US Congress on financing the project with US government
funds. The project was given the cold shoulder in US political
circles, although the regional oil and gas pipeline projects are
strongly supported.
Armenia and US-based Armenian groups say the project is unnecessary
since there is already a railway between Turkey and Armenia and that
can serve the same purpose.
Yýldýrým, commenting on Armenian opposition, said the railway between
Turkey and Armenia could not be used due to the lack of formal
relations between the two countries. But he added that this should
not mean that the existing railway would never be used.
"This railway [between Turkey and Armenia] will be used when
the dispute is resolved in the future," Yýldýrým said. "The
Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway should not be used as an alternative to it."
In Tbilisi, Erdoðan also attended a ceremony to inaugurate the new
Tbilisi International Airport, built by the Turkish-led Tepe-Akfen-Vie
consortium.
--Boundary_(ID_zuDDh3L jLp3k7gqfIyI4ZA)--
From: Baghdasarian