Foreign

Interview of Azerbaijan’s consul general to Turkey's Kars city to APA’s Turkey correspondent

- How many Turkish provinces are included in the service area of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Kars?

-Along with the Embassy, two Consulates General of Azerbaijan operates in Turkey. 17 out of 81 provinces of Turkey include in the service area of the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Kars. The Consulate General provides consular services to citizens of Azerbaijan, as well as citizens of Turkey and other foreign countries who apply regarding Azerbaijan. As all Consulates General of Azerbaijan abroad, we provide consular services and many other services related to notary transactions, issuance of certificates of marriage, birth, death, paternity in connection with the determination of acts of civil status, renewal of our citizens' passports, documentation work of our student regarding education, doctoral, teacher and other professional documentation.

We also provide legal support to our citizens by participating in legal proceedings to protect their rights. We provide our citizens with the return certificates to return to Azerbaijan in the case of expiration, loss or damage of their passports for various reasons.

- Did abolition of the visa regime between Azerbaijan and Turkey affect the activity of Azerbaijani Consulate General in Kars?

-Turkish citizens, possessing all kinds of passports, have been given an opportunity to visit Azerbaijan without a visa since September 1, 2019, related to the abolition of the visa regime, implemented before. If we take into consideration Turkey’s south-east region’s having the same border with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the majority number of people visiting the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and other regions of Azerbaijan through there, the abolition of the visa regime will pave the for the increase of the number of Turkish citizens heading for Azerbaijan.
When it comes to the effects of the abolition of a visa regime on the activity of Azerbaijani Consulate General in Kars, I can say that it will give employees of the Consulate more chances for spending the time on other directions, which they were spending on visa formalization before. Putting into operation of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars passenger train in near future, as well as Kars Logistics Center’s start operation will increase the flow of Azerbaijani businessmen and tourists, visiting Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, so will lead to growth in working load of the Consulate General.

-By the way, is there any information about the date of operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars train in the Consulate General?

-Freight trains with Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway that was inaugurated on October 29, 2017, with the attendance of heads of state of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia are operating. Along with, Turkish and Azerbaijani people wait eagerly for putting the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway into operation soon. The start of the operation of passenger trains will be possible after resolving some technical issues on the border crossing point in Gars.

- How can influence the launch of Baku-Tbilisi- Gars passenger train in the development of tourism between countries?

- Baku-Tbilisi- Gars railway is a part of Great Silk Way. The mentioned railway line runs through Istanbul in Turkey and passenger transportation in this direction is carried out currently. After the start of passenger transportation via Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway the implementation of passenger transportation from Baku up to Istanbul will be possible. Many provinces of Turkey, from Gars to Istanbul are famous for their tourism sector, and Azerbaijani citizens are using the tourism services of Turkey. After the operation of passenger transportation, the passengers using tourist areas of Turkey will be able to use this railway as cheap and comfortable transport. This will increase the number of citizens making tourist trips from Azerbaijan to Turkey and the opposite direction. Taking into account the serious tourist flow from the western provinces of Turkey to Kars, there will be chances to direct that flow to utilize tourism potential of Azerbaijan. Thus, it will have a positive impact on the development of a lot of fields, including tourism in Azerbaijan.

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