Officials from Turkey’s Kars province visited the Armenian-Turkish border to inspect ongoing railway construction work, Radio Azatutyun reports, citing the Turkish news agency IHA.
Ismail Demirtas, district governor of Akyaka in Kars province, and Fuat Arslan, chairman of the Kars Provincial General Council, received updates on construction and the project’s progress from a representative of the company carrying out the work.
“Demirtas inspected the ongoing work on site and held discussions with those responsible,” the Turkish outlet reported, adding that local residents were closely following developments concerning the reopening of the Kars-Gyumri railway.
The railway’s reopening is expected to boost trade, economic activity and transport development in Akyaka.
Earlier, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said reopening the Armenian-Turkish border would not take much longer once Armenia and Azerbaijan reached a comprehensive agreement. He emphasized that Turkey had completed the necessary preparations for both the resumption of railway traffic between Kars and Gyumri and the reopening of the Alican land border crossing.
Armenia, meanwhile, had announced an international tender to renovate the Gyumri-Kars railway. Two companies submitted bids: one from Uzbekistan, offering $1.9 million, and another from Kazakhstan, proposing approximately $3.5 million.
Neither company was selected because their bids failed to meet the established criteria. Armenia’s Ministry of Territorial Administration subsequently announced plans to hold a new tender.
