President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the Global Transport Connectivity Forum held at Istanbul Congress Center
“COUNTRIES THAT IMPROVE THEIR TRANSPORTATION MEANS ENHANCE THEIR CULTURAL AND SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT”
Making a speech at the Forum, President Erdoğan stated that the recent regional tensions and ambiguities have reminded once again how new and safe transportation routes are valuable, and said: “As has been the case throughout history, the countries that improve their transportation means not only contribute to the prosperity of their societies, but also enhance their cultural and scientific development. It is this very approach what lies behind the big investments Türkiye has made especially in the past 22 years in communication and energy lines in addition to land, air and sea routes.”
“WE HAVE PUT INTO SERVICE THE BAKU–TBILISI–KARS RAILROAD LINE”
Stressing that they also build peace and cooperation roads, corridors and routes that connect Türkiye’s neighbors, other countries and regions to each other, President Erdoğan noted: “We see that two big projects are gaining significance in this sense. One of them is the Middle Corridor. The Middle Corridor, which extends from China to Europe and connects 21 countries to one another via railroads, offers transportation twice as fast as maritime transportation and four times more economical than air transportation. We are re-opening, so to speak, the Silk Road. We have put into service the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railroad line, which is the backbone of the Middle Corridor. We continue to address the further enhancement of this huge project both during our bilateral talks and on such platforms as the Organization of Turkic States.”
“THE DEVELOPMENT ROAD STANDS OUT WITH ITS MULTIMODAL STRUCTURE”
Underscoring that the other project they attach importance to is the Development Road, President Erdoğan described it as a peace project beyond being a commercial plan, and added: “The Development Road, which starts from the Persian Gulf and extend to our country through Ovaköy and from there to Europe, stands out with its multimodal structure. It is aimed via the project that the freight, which arrives at Iraq’s Al Faw Grand Port, is shipped to Europe through our country. The effect of the Development Road on production will surpass 50 billion dollars through a 10-year projection. Its effect on employment, on the other hand, is calculated to be an average of 63 thousand jobs a year. With the Development Road, we will turn our geopolitical means into a comprehensive economic advantage that will benefit the entire region. The biggest winner of the project will be all the brotherly countries in the region as well as Türkiye and our neighbor Iraq.”
