According to the newspaper 24 Saati, construction on the Turkish section of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway is slated to start in late July, reported The Messenger on July 1.  The railway portion that will run through Turkey will be 70 kilometers in length and connect northeastern Turkey to Georgia.  It was previously reported that the project would begin in early June.  In the meantime, construction on the Georgian section is already underway.  In the opening ceremony of the project last year, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said that the railway would be Georgia’s “window to Europe”. 
Georgia lost a rail connection to Russia when Abkhazia seceded in the early 1990s, detailed the newspaper.  The United States and the European Union are not providing assistance for the project.
This information was originally published July 1, 2008.  (www.messenger.com.ge)
-- 07/03/2008