The construction of Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway, which is going to link Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia, gives rise to certain questions for the Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili, and he intends to raise this issue with the government of Azerbaijan, during his visit to Baku.

“I may raise the issue during my visit to Azerbaijan in order to explain to our friends very gently, that at some point, for us, it can be not useful, and that the issue needs to be resolved ... It was necessary to involve experts in the initial stage. Before the start of the construction it would be easy, now it is very difficult,” Ivanivshili said in an interview with Resonance newspaper.

The Prime Minister also noted that the favorable geographical location of Georgia “needs partnership and proper use.”

“We spend a lot of time working on this issue. This is the purpose of my visit to Azerbaijan. I also plan to visit Armenia and Turkey in the future,” he said, Civil.Ge reported.

In response to the Prime Minister’s announcement President Mikheil Saakashvili said that the cancellation of the construction of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway will make Georgia dependent on Russia. He also expressed concern about the negotiations on the full switch to the Russian energy, which, he said, would threaten the energy independence of Georgia.

"Both of these solutions and the statement of the government and the prime minister is driving us away from Europe and directly linking to the Russian Federation,” he said.