Türkiye has secured 1.55 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in foreign financing for the Dörtyol-Hassa Highway and Railway Project, which is expected to significantly boost the competitiveness of the southeastern region.
The funding is part of the government’s ongoing efforts to attract international funding for infrastructure, particularly in areas affected by the devastating February 2023 earthquakes.
The latest agreement was signed between the Treasury and Finance Ministry and a consortium of lenders led by France’s Societe Generale, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Monday.
The financing is backed by the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN) and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), which operates under the Islamic Development Bank. Several commercial banks also joined under these guarantees.
The southeastern region is still recovering from earthquakes that struck 11 provinces in February 2023, claiming more than 50,000 lives and destroying hundreds of thousands of buildings and severely damaging infrastructure.
The project, overseen by the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry’s Directorate General of Infrastructure Investments, will directly connect the Gulf of Iskenderun with southeastern Türkiye.
Once completed, it will link the gulf to industrial zones behind the Amanos Mountains and to the city of Gaziantep via both road and rail.
Officials say the project will strengthen the region’s transport infrastructure, stimulate trade and tourism, support economic and social development, and make a significant contribution to Türkiye’s exports.
It is also expected to improve earthquake resilience in the transportation network.
With this latest deal, the total amount of foreign funding secured for Türkiye’s railway sector alone this year has reached approximately 4.2 billion euros.
In late December, the government announced a $14 billion regional development plan that covers some of the quake-affected provinces and aims to reduce the economic gap between the southeastern region and the rest of the country.
