Turkey pushes $25bn Iraq transport route over India-Europe corridor

ISTANBUL — At a logistics forum in Istanbul in mid-September, Alper Ozel, chairman of the International Transporters’ Association in the Turkish commercial hub, gave a stark warning.

“We see others coming out and naming new corridors, so we need to move fast. One of the reasons for the Ottoman Empire’s downfall was the Silk Road route being forsaken after the opening of the Suez Canal,” which weakened its economy, he said. He called for a further strengthening of connectivity along what Turkey calls the Middle Corridor — a route aligned with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, passing through Turkic states between Europe in the West and China in the East.