MERSIN, Turkey
A train service that will connect Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia completed its first official trip on Saturday.
Departing from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Monday, the train arrived at its last stop in Turkey’s southern port city of Mersin.
Veysi Kurt, head of Turkish State Railways (TCDD) Transportation Inc. told reporters during a ceremony in Mersin, that the train covered 4,200 kilometers (2,609 miles) from Kazakhstan to Mersin carrying 600 tons of wheat.
It made its first stop in Turkey on Friday in northeastern Kars province, and covered 1,258 kilometers (781.68 miles) in 30 hours to reach Mersin.
The 826-kilometer (513-mile) Baku-Tiblisi-Kars railway project was launched in 2007 and construction began in 2008.
On Monday, the train began its first official trip after an inauguration ceremony in Baku, attended by the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
Reporting by Sezgin Pancar; Writing by Sibel Ugurlu
