Construction of the strategically important Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project is nearly complete, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said at a joint news conference in Tbilisi with Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili on 23 May, Rustavi-2 TV channel reported the same day.


"Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project is in its final stage. I was personally involved in the carrying out the project from the very first stage and I am content to say that the project is in its final stage. Our colleague [Kvirikashvili] also sees this project as a very important one and he was actively involved in it when he was [economy] minister. We are carrying out a three-way project in the Caucasus region, which will link us to Central Asia and the Far East. This link will practically take us to London and the historic Silk Road project will be intensified, which plays a great strategic role for the region," Yildirim said.


Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili expressed hope that the project will be fully completed by the end of 2017.


"The project is being carried out without interruptions and we hope very much that this year we will be able to open the project in a test regime and introduce test trains in all directions. We hope that by the end of the year the project will be fully completed," Kvirikashvili was shown saying.

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