Turkmenistan bolsters support for Transport Corridor providing Afghanistan with access to sea
The presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan announced during their joint press conference Monday in Ashgabat that they plan to rebuild the Serhetabat (Kushka)-Torgondi railway segment. Turkmenistan will provide technical know-how and construction capacity for the railway segment that extends from Turkmenistan into Afghanistan. The reconstruction of Serhetabat-Torgondi segment will be a major boost for the transport-transit corridor Afghanistan- Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey. This corridor came into service already late last year with the opening of the Atamurat-Imamnazar-Akina railway line, a segment built and financed entirely by Turkmenistan. It connects the railway system of Turkmenistan with the border town of Akina, from where it is possible to avail road connections toward north, east and south of Afghanistan. The corridor is already enabling Afghanistan to transport its goods to the markets in Turkmenistan, Caucasus, Turkey and onward to Europe. It is also a convenient conduit to receive necessary imports from the western direction. With the inclusion of Serhetabat-Torgondi link, the corridor will have twin-lines leading from and to Afghanistan. In the era of corridors and connectivity, the corridor Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey is a viable conduit between Central Asia and Europe on one hand and Central and South Asia on the other.
