Türkiye will lay the foundation on Friday for a major railway project in the country’s east that will form a strategic segment of the Zangezur Corridor, a planned key transit route in the South Caucasus.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced on Thursday that the Kars-Igdir-Aralik-Dilucu Railway Line, stretching 224 kilometres, will serve as a critical link within the corridor, connecting Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave.
Designed to carry 5.5 million passengers and 15 million tons of freight annually, the railway will also feature five tunnels, Uraloglu noted. He added that external financing of $2.79 billion was secured through efforts led by Türkiye’s Treasury and Finance Ministry.
The announcement comes just days after a trilateral summit at the White House, where Azerbaijan’s President İlham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and US President Donald Trump signed a joint declaration.
The agreement seeks to end decades of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, pledging to cease hostilities, normalise relations, and reopen transport routes — including the Zangezur Corridor.
The planned corridor has stirred unease in Iran, which has long opposed the project, seen as potentially undermining Tehran’s influence over Armenia.
On Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian travelled to Yerevan for talks with Armenian leaders and also spoke about the transit link.
Analysts say the railway project, coupled with the recent peace declaration, could reshape trade and transport in the South Caucasus.
