Turkey and Syria Restore Direct Road Links in Landmark Transport Pact

A flurry of transport diplomacy wrapped up on Sunday in Istanbul, where officials from 30 countries closed the Global Transport Connectivity Forum by signing 12 agreements designed to speed cargo across continents. The headline act was a deal between Turkey and Syria to restart direct road freight for the first time in years, a move that Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said will "end cumbersome cargo transfers at the border" and reopen a straight shot from Anatolia to the Gulf. Uraloglu told reporters the revived route, first framed in a 2004 accord, plugs neatly into the Trans-Caspian "Middle Corridor," Turkey's signature east-west trade vision.

Once the wheels start rolling, trucks could leave Istanbul, cross Syria, and reach Jordan, Saudi Arabia, or even Qatar without switching trailers--a prospect that thrills exporters tired of bottlenecks. The forum's star speaker, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pitched the Middle Corridor as the smart, secure alternative to the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope. He bragged that planned rail and port upgrades could cut Shanghai-to-Rotterdam shipping times to under 15 days--less than half the Suez slog.

Erdogan pegged the corridor's long-term economic punch at £114 billion.

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Istanbul also saw Turkey ink a memorandum with eight African nations--including Somalia, Ghana, and Djibouti--to create a Joint Steering Committee for transport projects. "We'll back Africa in claiming its rightful place in global logistics," Uraloglu said, hinting at fresh Turkish investment from Dakar to Djibouti. In short, Ankara is putting rubber on the road--and rail--to turn its Silk Road dreams into a 21st-century freight superhighway.

For the full breakdown of who signed what and how soon trucks might roll, check out our complete coverage.