27.07.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. The construction of the Kars-Tbilisi railway is a very important project for Turkey.
Turkish Foreign Minister, Ismail Cem stated this summing up the results of the negotiations with his Georgian counterpart, Irakli Menagarishvili, reports Anatolian news agency. This route will not only connect Turkey and Georgia to each other, but will also connect whole Caucasus to Western and Eastern Europe, said Cem. The Foreign Minister of Turkey noted that his country has some difficulties in financing this project, which is expected to cost about 1 billion 200 million U.S. dollars. Turkey cannot undertake it on its own and joint works are continuing between Ankara and Tbilisi, said Cem.
Meanwhile, Menagarishvili said in his part that Turkey had an important role in Georgia’s integration with Europe. He added that Turkey’s role became much bigger after its candidacy to the European Union was announced at last year’s Helsinki Summit. -0-
ԻմPANը
