Ankara ratified the Lapis Lazuli Route Agreement
Turkey has ratified the Agreement on transit and transport cooperation (the Lapis Lazuli Route Agreement), signed in Ashgabat on November 15, 2017, Turkish government publication Resmi Gazete reports.
Turkey also ratified the Agreement with Uzbekistan on combined cargo transportation that was signed in Ankara on October 25, 2017.
The Lapis Lazuli Route Agreement was signed between Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
According to the Lapis Lazuli Project, railways and motorways will connect the city of Towrgondi (the Afghan province of Herat) though Ashgabat to the Caspian Sea Port of Turkmenbashy. The corridor will be extended to Baku, then through Tbilisi to Ankara with branch roads to Poti and Batumi, and further from Ankara to Istanbul. The project budget, which aims to facilitate transit logistics and simplify customs procedures in the region, is estimated at two billion dollars.
The project title derives from Afghan lapis lazuli, which has been exported for many years to the Caucasus, Russia, Europe and North Africa. Some contemporary authors call Lapis Lazuli the relevant section of the Great Silk Road.
The idea of creating a transit and transport system between 5 countries arose in 2012. A Preliminary Agreement was signed in November 2016. A Formal Corridor Agreement was signed in October 2017 as part of the 7th Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA) in Ashgabat.
The opening ceremony of the Lapis Lazuli Corridor took place in Herat, the western province of Afghanistan, on December 13, 2018. On the same day, the first test of 9 heavy vehicles was launched, which finished in Turkey in 15 days.
