Why Erdogan rants against the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor
Turkey's exclusion from the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor has irritated Erdogan, who is relaunching his own infrastructure project. All the details
It's not just China that's complaining about the new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor . Turkish President Erdogan also has something to say, returning from the G20 in Delhi, he launched his counter-proposal to build another and different Corridor that passes through Turkey. Here are Erdogan's statements and what we know about a project that would also involve the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Iraq.
The sultan's irritation
Erdogan doesn't agree. Speaking to journalists on the return flight from Delhi, the Sultan of Ankara expressed his frustration with the new India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) launched at the last G20 which cuts Turkey off.
“We say there can be no Corridor without Turkey,” Erdogan told reporters on Monday. “Turkey is an important industrial and commercial base. The most convenient line for traffic from East to West must pass through Turkey."
The idea
The Turkish President, however, did not limit himself to murmuring, but relaunched with a different project, called the Iraq Development Road Project, which just like the IMEC aims to connect the Persian Gulf region to Europe through a railway line and a motorway which would originate from ports in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar passing through Iraq and Turkey.
The accession of the Emirates
Although the details of Erdogan's idea are not known, he has told the media about ongoing negotiations between the states affected by the route.
One leader in particular would be enthusiastic about it, according to the Turkish President, and that is the President of the Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed, with whom Erdogan claims to have spoken about the topic two days earlier.
According to Erdogan's testimony, Zayed said: "Let's not prolong this discussion any longer, but let our friends conclude the negotiations in the next sixty days and lay the foundations immediately."
Erdogan then added that “the Emirates are ready for this undertaking. Qatar is ready and we are really, really ready for it.”
The project
Reporting the words of the Turkish President, the English-language Arab newspaper Middle East Eye explained what little is known about the project, which would include the construction of a modern highway and a high-speed railway line that would cover a distance of 1,200 kilometers.
According to what the Iraqi government imagined, the trains would operate both for the transport of passengers and goods and would travel at a speed of around 300 km/h.
The plans would also include the construction of logistics hubs and industrial complexes and the possible integration of oil and gas pipelines.
An investment of around 17 billion dollars is expected for this ambitious scheme, with the creation of at least 100 thousand jobs and an annual return estimated at 4 billion.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/turchia-erdogan-proteste-corridoio-economico/ on Wed, 13 Sep 2023 06:06:30 +0000.