Turkey as a Eurasian Transport Hub: Prospects for Inter-Regional Partnership

Abstract

Turkey is well poised to become a Eurasian transport hub connecting Europe with Asia, the East with the West. While the country is blessed with a prime geographical location in this respect, it also needs infrastructure development within its territory, and enhanced connectivity with neighboring countries and the region in general. Turkey’s recent cooperation with China within the framework of the latter’s Belt and Road Initiative is an important development in this sense; however, there should be more cooperation with other regional powers as well, especially with Russia. Transport corridors favored by Turkey and by Russia, or routes that cross the territories of these countries, do not necessarily compete with or substitute for each other; they could rather function as parts of a holistic network of Eurasian connectivity.