Erdogan says no India-Mideast- EU economic corridor without Turkiye

Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that plans announced by India, Saudi Arabia and the EU to create a trade corridor that would link South Asia to Europe and bypass Turkiye “will not work”.

Speaking to reporters upon his return from the G20 summit in India, Erdogan stressed that the most suitable traffic line from east to west is the line crossing from Turkiye.

Earlier on Sunday, the Turkish president indicated that his country would work with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq regarding the railway and port corridor announced on the sidelines of the G20 summit over the weekend.

Erdogan hoped that the new corridor project linking India, the Middle East and Europe will work in coordination with the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) [Yasin Demirci – Anadolu Agency]

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On Saturday a memorandum of understanding on the corridor was signed by the European Union, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the US and other G20 partners on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi.

The transport link, dubbed the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, aims to establish railway lines and shipping that will pass through the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, then reach Greece and Europe.

The corridor aims to create a reliable and more cost-effective trade route, and enhance supply chain flexibility. It also aims to establish railway lines and connect sea ports, to enhance trade exchange and facilitate the passage of goods, in addition to facilitating the process of transferring renewable electricity and clean hydrogen via cables and pipelines in order to enhance energy security, support efforts to develop clean energy, as well as develop the digital economy through connectivity and digital transmission of data through fibre optic cables.