Turkiye notes potential of Trans-Caspian Corridor amid Red Sea crisis

The crisis in the Red Sea has opened new opportunities for unlocking the potential of the Trans-Caspian transport corridor and its use in global trade," says the head of the International Association of Carriers, Sherafettin Aras, explaining that Turkiye can play a leading role in the realisation of this project, Azernews reports.

"The events in the Red Sea have increased the importance of the Middle [Trans-Caspian] Corridor. Turkiye, with its logistic and investment potential, can play a leading role in realising this project and opening its opportunities for world trade, especially between Europe and Asia," Aras told Ekonomim, a newspaper of Turkish business circles.

The head of the association recalled that the Trans-Caspian Corridor began to enter the global logistics agenda in the early 2000s as "an effective route within the framework of the New Silk Road concept for the transportation of goods and passengers overland from China to European countries."

"Western tensions with Russia and China and the expansion of EU-US sanctions against Russia and Iran have made the Middle Corridor attractive to the US and Western economies. With one of the main arteries of China's One Belt, One Road project passing through Central Asia, the potential of the Turan Corridor, which is given importance in the Turkic world, will only grow," Aras noted.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), also known as the Middle Corridor, runs to Europe through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea area, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye. Note that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is part of this corridor.