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KARS WARMS TO HUB ROLE AS RAILWAY BYPASSING ARMENIA NEARS END
Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 2 2013
It is still hard to compare it to examples in other developed Turkish
provinces but the centuries-old streets of Kars are now frequented
by young and ambitious entrepreneurs more than ever before, giving
early signals of an economic recovery which locals have long hoped for.
Underlying these growing hopes for an economic leap are some ongoing
infrastructure projects in this long-neglected corner of the country.
Standing out among other examples, such as Eastern Turkey's largest
airport terminal, is a railway project.
The local government shares a similar optimism to this end. The
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railroad, which is currently under
construction, has started attracting investors from around the
region to Kars months ahead of its planned completion in December,
Kars Governor Eyup Tepe told Today's Zaman in Kars on Wednesday.
The completion of the BTK project, popularly known as the Iron
Silk Road, is of crucial importance to Kars, once a critical trade
hub sitting at the crossroads of Caucasus trade. A relatively
underdeveloped province near the Armenian border, problems between
Ankara and Yerevan, along with the lack of new border gates to benefit
from trade with Georgia and Azerbaijan, have long undermined Kars'
potential to grow.
"We have faith that the BTK will see the region regain its historic
importance to eventually prosper. ... We are establishing an Organized
Industrial Zone [OSB] on an area of nearly 1 million square meters
in Kars to serve as a logistics center for the BTK," Tepe said. He
said the details of the project would be made public in July.
The governor added that an Azerbaijan-based company had earlier told
him that they planned to build their own logistics center in Kars
and had requested an area of around 130,000 square meters. "This will
possibly be allocated to them separate from the planned OSB. ... We
are currently working on the details here," Tepe said.
Ankara is now expected to finalize the procedures to publicize the
land for the new OSB in Kars. Part of the land is currently a pasture
in Kars, where animal husbandry is widespread. The BTK will connect
to both one of Turkey's busiest ports, Ceyhan in Adana, as well as
the Ä°stanbul Bosporus undersea tunnel project Marmaray, due to enter
into service this October, strengthening Kars' aspiration to use its
geopolitical position to become a global commercial transportation
hub. The province already undertakes a similar role in energy:
The South Caucasus pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) that supplies
Azerbaijani gas to Turkey travels via Kars.
Also commenting on the issue, Kars Mayor Nevzat BozkuÅ~_ told Today's
Zaman that the planned OSB has attracted the interest of local firms
as well. Underlining that they are ready to provide the necessary
incentives for the firms that invest in the OSB, BozkuÅ~_ said they
expect the planned OSB to attract new investors both from abroad
and Turkey.
The owner of a large Turkish logistics firm, who was accompanying Tepe
and BozkuÅ~_ on Wednesday and spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said he was also interested in joining the OSB project. "We could
use Kars as a hub to transfer goods between Ceyhan and Central Asian
markets," he said.
'Russian-backed Abkhaz railway no alternative to BTK'
The BTK remains a critical project for the countries involved as
it will connect Europe to Central Asia while dissolving the Russian
railway monopoly in the Caucasus.
Three years after its kick-off, the project was about 60 percent
complete in 2011. It, however, fell behind schedule due to prolonged
procedures in the Public Procurement Authority (KÄ°K).
The BTK's trial runs are expected to start in the first half of next
year. The envisaged annual number of passengers to be carried by the
BTK railroad line is 1.5 million while the projected annual amount
of freight is 3 million tons.
Some have argued that the planned rehabilitation and expansion of
the Abkhaz railway, a Russian railway that connects it with Armenia,
threatens to undermine the strategic importance of the BTK. Tepe did
not join in commenting that the Abkhaz project would be either an
alternative or a rival to the BTK. "The BTK's projections go well
beyond that of others in this region. ... We are preparing for a
project that will serve a much wider region than this Russian-backed
project," he said. Tepe also added that the BTK is approaching
completion at full speed while the Abkhaz plan will take time to
develop.
Observers earlier argued that the BTK appears to be the new playground
of a diplomatic battle between Russia and Turkey to gain geostrategic
advantage in the Caucasus. Armenia and Azerbaijan have already
chosen their own sides, leaving the new Georgian government largely
indecisive.
Georgia's new government said in December that it had agreed to
finalize the construction of tunnels along the Kars-Akhalkalaki segment
of the BTK. A day later, citing economic concerns, Tbilisi said it
would review the BTK in December. The construction of the tunnels,
however, began last month.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-314291-kars-warms-to-hub-role-as-railway-bypassing-armenia-nears-end.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
May 2 2013
It is still hard to compare it to examples in other developed Turkish
provinces but the centuries-old streets of Kars are now frequented
by young and ambitious entrepreneurs more than ever before, giving
early signals of an economic recovery which locals have long hoped for.
Underlying these growing hopes for an economic leap are some ongoing
infrastructure projects in this long-neglected corner of the country.
Standing out among other examples, such as Eastern Turkey's largest
airport terminal, is a railway project.
The local government shares a similar optimism to this end. The
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railroad, which is currently under
construction, has started attracting investors from around the
region to Kars months ahead of its planned completion in December,
Kars Governor Eyup Tepe told Today's Zaman in Kars on Wednesday.
The completion of the BTK project, popularly known as the Iron
Silk Road, is of crucial importance to Kars, once a critical trade
hub sitting at the crossroads of Caucasus trade. A relatively
underdeveloped province near the Armenian border, problems between
Ankara and Yerevan, along with the lack of new border gates to benefit
from trade with Georgia and Azerbaijan, have long undermined Kars'
potential to grow.
"We have faith that the BTK will see the region regain its historic
importance to eventually prosper. ... We are establishing an Organized
Industrial Zone [OSB] on an area of nearly 1 million square meters
in Kars to serve as a logistics center for the BTK," Tepe said. He
said the details of the project would be made public in July.
The governor added that an Azerbaijan-based company had earlier told
him that they planned to build their own logistics center in Kars
and had requested an area of around 130,000 square meters. "This will
possibly be allocated to them separate from the planned OSB. ... We
are currently working on the details here," Tepe said.
Ankara is now expected to finalize the procedures to publicize the
land for the new OSB in Kars. Part of the land is currently a pasture
in Kars, where animal husbandry is widespread. The BTK will connect
to both one of Turkey's busiest ports, Ceyhan in Adana, as well as
the Ä°stanbul Bosporus undersea tunnel project Marmaray, due to enter
into service this October, strengthening Kars' aspiration to use its
geopolitical position to become a global commercial transportation
hub. The province already undertakes a similar role in energy:
The South Caucasus pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) that supplies
Azerbaijani gas to Turkey travels via Kars.
Also commenting on the issue, Kars Mayor Nevzat BozkuÅ~_ told Today's
Zaman that the planned OSB has attracted the interest of local firms
as well. Underlining that they are ready to provide the necessary
incentives for the firms that invest in the OSB, BozkuÅ~_ said they
expect the planned OSB to attract new investors both from abroad
and Turkey.
The owner of a large Turkish logistics firm, who was accompanying Tepe
and BozkuÅ~_ on Wednesday and spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said he was also interested in joining the OSB project. "We could
use Kars as a hub to transfer goods between Ceyhan and Central Asian
markets," he said.
'Russian-backed Abkhaz railway no alternative to BTK'
The BTK remains a critical project for the countries involved as
it will connect Europe to Central Asia while dissolving the Russian
railway monopoly in the Caucasus.
Three years after its kick-off, the project was about 60 percent
complete in 2011. It, however, fell behind schedule due to prolonged
procedures in the Public Procurement Authority (KÄ°K).
The BTK's trial runs are expected to start in the first half of next
year. The envisaged annual number of passengers to be carried by the
BTK railroad line is 1.5 million while the projected annual amount
of freight is 3 million tons.
Some have argued that the planned rehabilitation and expansion of
the Abkhaz railway, a Russian railway that connects it with Armenia,
threatens to undermine the strategic importance of the BTK. Tepe did
not join in commenting that the Abkhaz project would be either an
alternative or a rival to the BTK. "The BTK's projections go well
beyond that of others in this region. ... We are preparing for a
project that will serve a much wider region than this Russian-backed
project," he said. Tepe also added that the BTK is approaching
completion at full speed while the Abkhaz plan will take time to
develop.
Observers earlier argued that the BTK appears to be the new playground
of a diplomatic battle between Russia and Turkey to gain geostrategic
advantage in the Caucasus. Armenia and Azerbaijan have already
chosen their own sides, leaving the new Georgian government largely
indecisive.
Georgia's new government said in December that it had agreed to
finalize the construction of tunnels along the Kars-Akhalkalaki segment
of the BTK. A day later, citing economic concerns, Tbilisi said it
would review the BTK in December. The construction of the tunnels,
however, began last month.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-314291-kars-warms-to-hub-role-as-railway-bypassing-armenia-nears-end.html