New Delhi: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said there can be no trade corridor between the East and Middle East or Europe “without Turkey” — a statement seen as a pushback against the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that was announced on the sidelines of the New Delhi G20 Summit.
Turkey is part of the China backed global infrastructure project — One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI) — which the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor backed by the US is seemingly countering.
The proposed corridor, announced Saturday, will link India with the Middle East and from there to Europe. It aims at doing this by bypassing Turkey.
“There cannot be a corridor without Turkey. Turkey is an important production and trade base. The most convenient line for east-to-west traffic has to pass through Turkey,” Erdoğan reportedly told journalists on his return flight from India, according to Hürriyet Daily News, an English language newspaper in Turkey.
Erdoğan had attended the G20 summit, which was held from 8-10 September in New Delhi.
As reported earlier, India, the US, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, the European Union (EU), Italy, France and Germany came together Saturday, to launch an ambitious infrastructure plan connecting India to Europe through the Middle East.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor would reshape the trade routes between the Gulf, Europe and South Asia and connect them by rail and sea links.
The project would consist of two corridors — the eastern corridor linking India to West Asia and the Middle East and the northern corridor linking West Asia and the Middle East with Europe.
India will likely be connected with the UAE via sea links to the Dubai port, and this would likely be the starting point of the railway line connecting UAE to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel and Europe.
While the agreement signed Saturday did not have any binding financial agreements among the partners, the parties agreed to draft an action plan within 60 days for the corridor.
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Separate West Asia corridor with Europe
According to Middle East Eye — a London based news agency that focuses on North Africa and the Middle East — President Erdoğan said he was aware of many countries looking to expand their influence through the creation of trade corridors.
Significantly, Ankara backs the Iraq Development Road Project — a corridor connecting the Gulf with Europe through Turkey.
Erdoğan revealed that discussions were held with Gulf countries regarding an agreement on the Iraq Development Road Project during the G20 Summit.
“We are talking about a corridor to Europe through Iraq, Qatar, the UAE and Turkey,” the Hürriyet Daily News quoted Erdoğan as saying.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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