Ankara, Baku Tbilisi lobby for railway

TBILSI

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia are lobbying for NATO to use a railway, according to Georgian FM. REUTERS photo

Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia are lobbying for NATO to use the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars regional railway for transport from Afghanistan, Georgia Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze said yesterday.

“The Georgian side offers the International Security Assistance Force ISAF and NATO two things: Georgia’s participation in operations in Afghanistan after 2014, although the mission has not been determined.

Apart from this, we have the willingness to make a financial contribution to the development of Afghan security forces. Second, we offer the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which is the shortest and cheapest way out of Afghanistan after 2014,” Panjikidze said, Azernews Website reported.

“Turkey and Azerbaijan are very interested in this road, and they are also lobbying for it,” Panjikidze said.

“First we suggested it a long time ago. We just try to push this question at every meeting. We do this during bilateral meetings, and it is possible that some countries will take out their cargo on their own. We already know the similar interests of some countries.”