Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu: The IMEC corridor is a completely reactionary approach

Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu answered questions from Bloomberg HT. Emphasizing that our geography is an important trade hub due to its location, Uraloğlu provided information about current projects and developments.

"OUR NEGOTIATIONS WITH IRAQ REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT ROAD PROJECT ARE ONGOING"

Stating that Turkey is located at the center of global trade hubs and that they are carrying out projects to develop trade routes, the highlights of Uraloğlu's speech are as follows:

Providing information about international trade corridors, Minister Uraloğlu said, "When we look at the world map, the point where Turkey stands is a true intersection. We are at a central point, and therefore we are at an important hub on all trade routes. Generally speaking, we are in the Middle Corridor. There are Northern and Southern corridors, and we are in the Middle Corridor. There are corridors that will support this, or corridors that could be alternatives within this corridor. We must also feed these East-West extending corridors with North-South connections. We are in the Middle Corridor; cargo departing by road or train can go to London without transshipment, except for the Caspian crossing—there is a transfer at the Caspian, but otherwise, it is possible to go without transshipment... The Northern corridor, as you know, has some issues due to the Ukraine War, and there are also some climate-related issues. When you go south, the Southern corridor is a route where sea transport is used more and durations are longer. That is why we want to strengthen the Middle Corridor. Of course, there are maintenance and repair works on the lines from time to time. Capacities need to be increased, so we must definitely support alternative routes. At this point, the Zangezur Corridor is valuable to us; the issue is that maintenance and repair work has been carried out on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line at the Georgian border for the last 5-6 months, and it is effectively closed; hopefully, it will open at the end of the year," he said.

"THE IMEC CORRIDOR IS A COMPLETELY REACTIONARY APPROACH"

Mentioning alternative routes, Uraloğlu continued his speech as follows: "It is beneficial to have alternatives, which is why we care about them. There is a possibility of passing through Armenian territory; Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan has made statements and posts in this direction in recent days, so we will continue with the corridor. We have also held the tender for the section within Turkish borders, and we will proceed quickly. I want to mention the IMEC corridor; this is a corridor thrown out there with a completely reactionary approach without any substance. The approach pointed out by our President is that 'it cannot happen without Turkey.' You will bring cargo from India and China. You will unload it on the Arabian Peninsula, bring it by train, pass through 4 customs points, and then go from the airport back to the sea, and then unload it again in Europe. In other words, you will have made four transfers, and there is nothing behind this for now. The project is still being kept at a level where it can be used politically. It has not been completely removed from the agenda, but I always explain that our truck drivers know so well where the most economical fuel is, where they should enter a toll road, and where they should take a state road; this is a matter of calculation, they are so practical about it that it does not seem like a very near future prospect, from time to time to transfers. Could it happen in the future? That will also be evaluated, but frankly, I can say that there is nothing very serious behind it in this sense. On the other hand, regarding the Development Road, we foresee the 43-kilometer section of the Zangezur Corridor passing through Armenian territory. There is a line in Nakhchivan that needs improvement; the Azerbaijani side will start soon, and there is a line of approximately 224 kilometers on our side, and we will have connected the Zangezur Corridor to this line. Our Middle Corridor, the Zangezur Corridor—countries now know, for example, that Iran is working on a corridor towards the north, towards Russia. The Development Road will start from Iraq's Al-Faw Port, will be opened for operation in 2025, and with 1200 kilometers of both railway and highway, it will come to our Ovaköy border gate, and from there, it will be a continuation of the corridor we mentioned earlier in Turkey, and if necessary, these loads can be unloaded to all of Europe, the Mediterranean, and Black Sea ports. We are talking to the Iraqi government; there was a visit in recent months. We are planning to hold a four-party Ministerial Summit soon. We are discussing at a technical level with Qatar and the UAE participating, but as you know, this issue in Palestine can sometimes delay such developments."

"650-700 THOUSAND PEOPLE TRAVEL VIA MARMARAY DAILY, IT IS IN NEED OF MAINTENANCE"

Uraloğlu added, "Since there is very heavy travel on Marmaray, maintenance needs to be done; regular maintenance must be done every day. We stop services after 12-1 AM both for this and for the passage of freight trains. We both let freight trains pass and perform maintenance; this is a difficult issue for us in terms of operation. As an alternative, there is a route of about 120 km going from Gebze to Çatalca via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge; we had already done the first step of this. We had made the double line ready for passage on the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge; its project is finished, we have done the feasibility, included it in the investment program, and we plan to tender it with foreign credit. Work for freight transfer from the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge will become clear towards the end of the year," he added.

"STARLINK NEGOTIATIONS ARE CONTINUING, WE HAVE CONVEYED OUR DEMANDS REGARDING SECURITY TO THE PARTIES"

Stating that Starlink negotiations are continuing, Uraloğlu said, "Are we expecting an investment in the short term? Turkey's current satellites regarding these issues, all satellites in the world are what we call classic satellites at an atmospheric level of 40,000-45,000 km, and there is an internet and communication opportunity provided entirely through ground stations from them. Now, with Starlink and a company formed by the European Union in a general sense in Europe, low-orbit satellites are now very seriously... These are 1000-1500 km above, and if you think of the current satellite size as a one-story building, these low-orbit satellites are the size of the chairs we are sitting on. Therefore, the communication provided by our normal satellites from ground stations can be accessed directly via an antenna that the user will receive with these low-orbit satellites. At this point, as Turkey, there are some issues we want to guarantee and ensure safety for; we have discussed these issues and continue to discuss them. We have held meetings with their representatives in Turkey, so the process is continuing in this sense. After receiving these security guarantees, we will make progress there too; we do not want to be left out of this technology, we are moving forward with the right steps, but the negotiations have not been cut off, we are constantly maintaining them," he said.

"WE QUICKLY REPLACED BASE STATIONS AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE"

Uraloğlu continued his speech as follows:

"We are planning the delivery of the TÜRKSAT 6A satellite within March of next year. 50 airports in our country have the green airport certificate, and we aim to increase this number. We have 14 thousand km of railway lines, but we aim to increase this to 28 thousand km. Planning studies for the high-speed train line that will connect Ankara with the Black Sea are ongoing. The Ankara-Istanbul super high-speed train project will allow travel time to drop to 80 minutes. We quickly replaced base stations after the earthquake. We want to ensure that every operator transfers capacity to other operators in disaster situations. We have started 5G technology trials in 25 different locations. We are working to ensure that the share of domestic companies in 5G is more than 50 percent. We must establish smart roads and ensure integration with electric vehicles. The opening of Sabiha Gökçen's second runway will take place in the coming days. The construction of our 3 new airport projects is ongoing. We want to prepare a competitive environment with privatization in railways. We have 5 different railway projects ongoing in Istanbul."

News Source: 12punto