BAKU, Azerbaijan — Uzbekistan has formed a dedicated working group to study participation in building a railway from Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave to Turkey, moving the proposal beyond preliminary interest to interagency review.
Uzbek Transport Minister Ilkhom Makhkamov said the group was established after President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s visits to Georgia and Azerbaijan produced instructions on several transport initiatives.
Those initiatives include using Caspian Sea infrastructure, purchasing ferries and considering an equity stake in railway construction in Azerbaijan, Makhkamov said.
Separate working groups were created for each area. The Transport Ministry has already submitted reports on the work completed and its results and received new assignments to carry out by the end of 2026.
Tashkent had previously said it was considering participation in the railway project. The proposed link would provide access through Nakhchivan to the Turkish ports of Samsun and Istanbul and strengthen transit connections among Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Turkey.
Source: Report.