The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Türkiye are in talks over the construction of a railway line that will pass over the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the third bridge over Istanbul's Bosporus, as part of a planned trade corridor linking Europe to the Middle East and Asia, according to a recent report citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to information provided by the authorities to Bloomberg, there was intense traffic at the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry for the planned Basra-Baghdad-Türkiye-Europe railway project, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan brought to the agenda after returning from the G-20 summit and announced that joint work would be initiated with the UAE.
In this context, technical committees discussed the details of the Development Road project.
The $17 billion (TL 468.50 billion) Development Road project aims to tie the Grand Faw Port, a major commodities port in Iraq’s oil-rich south, by rail and roads to the border with Türkiye, turning the country into a transit hub by shortening travel time between Asia and Europe in a bid to rival the Suez Canal.
Accordingly, the Abu Dhabi-based fund ADQ, which manages assets of $160 billion, met with Türkiye regarding the implementation of the railway line in the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge project.
A UAE official said in a written statement to Bloomberg: “The UAE aims to increase cooperation with Türkiye and double its foreign trade volume to $40 billion by 2030. This goal will be achieved by establishing new investment channels in energy, logistics, tourism, agriculture and more sectors."
President Erdoğan, in his statement to the media members accompanying him upon his return from India last month, said, "(Sheikh) Mohammed Bin Zayed (Al Nahyan), in particular, made a much more determined suggestion on this issue."
"Let's not prolong this matter, let our friends finish the negotiations in 60 days, and let's lay the foundations immediately and hit the road," Erdoğan said, adding, "They feel excitement for the (project) and we have given the necessary instructions to both our Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and our Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu."
The vast infrastructure and transportation project set to link the Persian Gulf to Europe via Iraq and Türkiye with railways, roadways and ports, could be completed faster than initially expected, and even as soon as 2028, Uraloğlu said during his visit to Iraq last week.
Echoing earlier remarks of Fidan, Uraloğlu said Qatar and the UAE could also be involved in the project.
