ANKARA
Turkey hopes an intercontinental railway project will help bring a sustainable settlement to Nagorno Karabakh a Turkish diplomat said Thursday.
Ambassador Fatih Ceylan, Deputy Undersecretary of Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made a presentation under the name "Regional Integrated Transport Corridors Project" in Ankara which "laid a solid ground for partnership, prosperity and peace (3P) in South Caucausus, covering Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan."
Ceylan mainly focused on 3P, explaining the "modern silkroad-middle corridor" project, which would connect Beijing to London and also Beijing to the Scandinavian countries through the silkroad.
"We started from the South Caucasus trying to contribute towards the solution of this projected conflict, mainly Nagorno Karabakh and we ended up in China-Seoul and London… I’m giving you this piece of information assuming that one day we will achieve full normalisation in Turkey-Armenia and Armenia-Azerbaijan tracks. So this is a kind of post peace project that we are proposing but we have to start now to think about what we could all do through such solid projects. Once we achive peace, sustainable peace will be in the region", Ceylan stated.
Saying that South Caucasus region is the most strategically important hub for Eurasia, Ceylan explained the project, which reaches the North Corridor and the South Corridor passing through Iran. Ceylan stated that this project presents many opportunities for a more efficient and cooperative regional transportation, by bringing an alternative route to the Northern Corridor .
Ceylan stressed also that the Marmaray project, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2013, will provide uninterrupted railway connection from Beijing to London. He added that this would be an opportunity to integrate to the Istanbul-Islamabad railway. Besides, the connection for Afghanistan to Central Asia and beyond through Hayratan-Mazar-i Sharif railway link, would also be active, Ceylan stated.
One of the protracted conflicts of the South Caucausus is Nagorno Karabakh, which is a region in South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur. It is situated at the intersection of Eurasia’s major energy and transport corridors and constitutes important threats to both this region's and Eurasia's security and stability. Turkey believes that peaceful resolution of all the conflicts of the Caucasus will contribute to the political stability and economic prosperity of these countries, opening up new possibilities for bilateral and regional cooperation.
