Azerbaijani MP hails BTK railway's launch

By commissioning the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, Azerbaijan has added another bright page to the country's glorious history, the Azerbaijani MP Elman Nasirov told Trend on October31.

He noted that the railway's commissioning attracted the attention of the entire world community. He stressed that the opening of the BTK railway will have big impact on cargo transportation between Europe and Asia.

'This is a very important event, Nasirov said. 'The BTK railway project will further strengthen positions of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in the international arena, and all the three countries will have a greater financial benefit from it. The opening of the BTK railway will also increase Azerbaijan's export opportunities.

'The opening of the BTK railway once again showed the world that all projects initiated by Azerbaijan are implemented, he noted. 'The BTK project is another historic step of Azerbaijan. The project's implementation will lead to further strengthening of Azerbaijan's cooperation with the countries located along the BTK railway.

The MP added that this project is a step, which serves cooperation in the region.

'The implementation of this project upset Armenia, said Nasirov. 'The Armenian media recognize that as a result of the policy of the country's President Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia's economy has fallen into decay, the country is in a blockade and the poverty level of Armenia's population is growing rapidly.

The official opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was held in Baku Oct.30. The BTK railway was constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. The railway's peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.

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