Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway: Azerbaijan unites Europe with Asia - COMMENT

Baku. 30 October. REPORT.AZ/ Azerbaijan witnessed a historical event of an international significance. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway called Iron Silk Road has today put into operation. We call it internationally and globally significant because BTK looks like the upgrade of the road opened by Turkish emperors to unite Asia with Europe. In ancient times and Middle Ages, Great Silk Way was considered the caravan road stretching from China to Middle and Western Asian countries. Historical trade route passing through China, Japan, India, Mongolia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and other countries stretched to Europe.

This road was opened in II BC. It stretched from Xi'an passing through Lanzhou to Dunhuang. It divided here into two parts: Northern route from Turpan to Pamir and from there it stretched to Ferghana and Kazakh steppes. The southern route passed through coast of Lop Nur lake, southern part of Taklamakan Desert, Yarkand and Pamir (southern part) stretched to Bactria, Parthia, India and Near East.

This road is said to be opened once by Alexander the Great. Later Attila and  Chingis Khan had managed to build the bridge between Europe and Asia and made two integral continents closer to each other. Though Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is a part of this route there is a great belief that it will be extended and become alternative and trustful road to unite two continents. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov, Prime minister of Kazakhstan Bakhytzhan Sagintayev, Prime minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili, other officials, representatives of transport sector attended the opening ceremony of this route in Baku.

The preliminary talks on accomplishment of Kars-Akhalkalaki railway started in session of Turkey-Georgia Joint Commission for transport in Ankara, July 26-29, 1993.

Transport ministers of two countries signed protocol on this in Istanbul on July 20-21, 2002.

At the press conference, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev who was on an official visit in Georgia on June 14, 2004, together his Georgian counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili said Azerbaijan supports this project and ready to partake in the project.

Joint Declaration on BTK railway route was signed on May 25, 2005, at the opening of Azerbaijan section of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline named after Heydar Aliyev by the President Ilham Aliyev, former president of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, ex-president of Turkey Ahmet Nejdet Sezer.

On February 7, 2007, during the working visit of President of Azerbaijan to Georgia an agreement was signed on commencement the construction of BTK railway route. As a continuation of all, on February 21, 2007, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on additional measures for implementation of new railway project.

On November 21, in Marabda station construction of Georgian section of the railway started and on July 24, 2008, in Kars construction of Turkish section of the railway was launched. Azerbaijan undertook the funding for construction of Georgian section of the railway. For this purpose, Azerbaijan has lent $ 220 million to Georgia repayable in 25 years with an annual interest rate of 1%.

The total length of BTK railway route is 840 km. 500 km of it pass through Azerbaijan, 260 km through Georgia and 80 km through Turkey. The tunnel with a length of about 5 km was constructed on the Georgian-Turkish border of the railway route.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway- Azerbaijan unites Europe with Asia. For this reason, it is considered the beneficial and safe alternative road. It is forecast that in the first stage, railway will be able to transport 5-6 million tons of freight, eventually this figure will reach 50 million of tons. 

Azerbaijan is said to generate $50 million from transit every year. Regarding transport of passengers, it is said that in the first stage every year 1 million passengers will benefit from the railway route. 

Azerbaijan has already ordered 30 units of sleeping cars to Swiss firm Stadler for use on the BTK railway route. The cars are produced in four categories: standard, comfort, business and restaurant.

The construction of a 76 km-long section of BTK in the territory of Turkey was implemented by the Turkish company, “Özgün Yapı Çeliklər”. 14 local and international companies participated in the tender. The proposal of this company was 250 million dollars. As an alternative transport project BTK is economically beneficial route not only for states participating in this event, it may also meet the interests of countries beyond the region. This is also project for safety assurance. It can be an impetus for economic development of regional states. Of course there were those who spoke against this project. Some people called this project as myth. But thanks to efforts of three countries this project become ready. In the future our neighbors Iran and Russia may also benefit from this opportunity.

Iron Silk Way may repeat the historical Silk Way. It is expected that Japan and China may benefit from capacities of this route in the future. This road will not serve political ambitions. For this reason, it is considered the most beneficial, safe alternative route. 

Therefore, passenger should be on his way... 

Congratulations with the new way!