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Construction of Turkish part of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway that is 76 kilometers long and will be constructed in Eastern Anatolia region will be officially launched today. President of Turkey Abdullah Gul, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Alliyev and President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili will be attending the opening ceremony.

Agreement on building railway that will connect three neighboring countries was signed in February 2007. Mission of the project is connecting Transeuropean and Transasian corridors through constructing new railway route. Project involves construction of 105 long new railway line, out of which 29 kilometers pass on Georgian soil and the rest on Turkish side. The project also includes rehabilitation of Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi and Tbilisi-Baku railway lines. Construction of Georgian part of the railway started in November 2007. Completion of the project is planned by 2010.

Turkey plans to finance its share of works by own sources, but for the completion of works of the Georgian side Azerbaijan provided Georgia with the loan of 220 million US Dollars with the annual 1% interest rate.