Zangezur Corridor Considered Alternative Route to Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway

2026-04-09

Currently, cargo transportation from China to Europe is carried out via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway from the Caspian Sea, and the Zangezur Corridor is being considered as an alternative route, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said, as reported by Report.

According to him, the volume of cargo transported through the territory of Georgia is not that large, so the Zangezur Corridor is being considered as an alternative route.

“This corridor will stretch from the Caspian Sea to the east and we are working on its launch. The Turkish section is 224 km long and its foundation was laid in 2025,” the minister said.

Uraloğlu also added that the Azerbaijani side is close to completing the Zangezur Corridor on its territory.

“The main part of the work in Nakhchivan has already been completed. After all the work is completed, the middle corridor connecting China and Europe will be provided with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line and the Zangezur Corridor,” the Turkish minister said.

He emphasized that this corridor is not only important from an economic point of view, but also a short route to Central Asia and the Turkic world.

Last week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that almost 90% of the construction of the Zangezur Corridor highway and about 70% of the railway have been completed. Also, within the framework of the Kars-Igdir-Aralık-Dilujü railway project, which will connect Turkey with the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan, the construction of a depot in the Turkish city of Kars will be completed within a month. In addition, the Kars-Igdir-Aralık-Dilujü railway project includes the construction of five tunnels with a total length of 11.5 km. Trains on the new line will travel at speeds of up to 160 km/h. The project is scheduled to be completed on September 24, 2029. In the future, the Nakhchivan-Kars railway, which is one of the routes of the Trump International Peace and Prosperity Route (TRIPP), will be connected to the BTC railway.

For reference: Currently, the maximum volume of cargo transported by the BTC railway is 5 million tons per year, while the Zangezur corridor is planned to transport 15 million tons per year.

The Zangezur corridor will be a 42-kilometer transport route that will connect the Azerbaijani mainland with the exclave of Nakhichevan via Armenia. The project was launched in Washington in early August, when, based on the agreement of the leaders of the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan, it was named the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” or TRIPP.

In mid-January, Armenia and the United States agreed to establish a joint venture to develop transport routes in Armenia within the framework of the TRIPP project. The company TRIPP Development will be responsible for developing the TRIPP infrastructure, which will be controlled by the United States. The State Department’s “roadmap” for the project states that Armenia intends to offer a 74% stake in the US company, while retaining 26%. However, Armenia’s stake could increase to 49% in the future.

Prepared by Lado Sulaberidze

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