Why does Türkiye Want To Join a Highway Project That Connects To the Baltic Sea?

European countries want to diversify their transport routes, especially after the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East upended global trade. The Via Carpathia Highway Project is part of that effort. It's a road corridor connecting the Baltic Sea with the Aegean and Black Seas. But the latest proposal by the European Parliament seeks to extend the connection to Türkiye in order to reach the Gulf and Caspian Sea.

The new Via Carpathia section is expected to link Lithuania to Istanbul. The highway will also join with the Middle Corridor transport route stretching to Beijing on one path, and to the energy rich Gulf through Iraq. Turkiye's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced that the country is ready to collaborate on the Via Carpathia project. Uraloglu added that the highway will allow Middle Eastern trade routes to connect all of Europe through Türkiye.

Strait Talk, hosted by Ayse Suberker, is TRT World’s programme that features in-depth analysis of Türkiye’s role in the world.

Guests:
Spasimir Domaradzki
Senior Analyst at Institute of Central Europe

Giray Sadik
Professor at Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University

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