"With the opening of the Zangazur Corridor, the Middle Corridor's capacity to transport cargo by rail and road will increase, which will positively contribute to the growth of East-West trade," said Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkiye, APA's Istanbul correspondent reports.
He noted that with the increase in efficiency of the Middle Corridor, the projects that can be implemented with Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea, including Nakhchivan and cooperation with Russia in the field of transport and energy, will increase the importance of Turkey's strategic position in the region.
Uraloglu said that the construction of the part of the Zangazur corridor up to the Armenian border continues, and a new 166-kilometer railway will be built from Horadiz to the Ordubad district of Nakhchivan. He also added that negotiations will be held between Azerbaijan and Russia regarding the construction of the 43-kilometer section of the corridor belonging to Armenia.
"The 158-kilometer line from Ordubad to the Validag station located in the north of Nakhchivan will be fundamentally repaired. In addition, the line will be extended 14 kilometers from Validag to the Armenian border. With this, as an alternative to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, it will be possible to get access to the corridor from the territory of Nakhchivan through Kars-Diluju," the minister emphasized.