Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway's Turkish part to be laid on July 24

Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili will push the button to launch the project on July 24.

The Kars-Tbilisi-Baku railway, or Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway, due to be completed by 2010, is a regional rail link project to directly connect Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The project consisting of three stages has the 76-kilometer part of it in Turkey while the 29-kilometer part of it will be built from Turkey's border to Akhalkalaki, Georgia. Georgia will also rehabilitate the current railway line from this city to Tbilisi.

The project seen very important since it will enable the Central Asian republics, worlds new oil and natural gas centers with an uninterrupted railway link.

A train that will set off from London could reach China without any interruption when the project is completed together with the completion of Marmaray Project which connect Asia and European continents under Bosphorus in Istanbul.

The foundation of Georgia section of the railway was laid in a region outside capital Tbilisi on November 21, 2007.