Turkey says work on strategic rail link starts June

The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku rail project is expected to be completed within two years and will hook up Turkey's rail network with those of Georgia and energy-rich Azerbaijan.

"It will create the possibility of unbroken, reliable and speedy freight and passenger transportation between Asia and Europe," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, referring to an eventual meshing with railway networks in China and Kazakhstan.

"This strategic project will give new impetus to regional cooperation," it said in a statement.

The ministry noted plans to build a rail tunnel beneath the Bosphorus waterway in Istanbul, part of the wider aim of creating a direct rail link between Europe and China.

The rail project between the eastern Turkish town of Kars and the Azeri capital Baku comes on the heels of a major energy pipeline transporting Azeri -- and later Kazakh -- crude oil to Western markets via Georgia and Turkey.

A natural gas pipeline linking Baku to the eastern Turkish town of Erzurum via Tbilisi is also due to open soon. Reuters

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