Türkiye’s highway freight to Syria surged 60% within the first 5 months of 2025 in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months, pushed by enhancing circumstances within the nation and renewed efforts to reopen transit corridors to the Gulf, in response to the top of a Turkish worldwide transport affiliation.
Şerafettin Aras, chairperson of the board on the International Transporters Association (UND), stated Türkiye made practically 113,000 highway shipments to Syria between January and May 2025, up from round 70,000 in the identical interval of 2024.
“In the coming period, the number of trips from Türkiye to Syria will increase further,” Aras advised Anadolu Agency (AA) on Saturday. “I believe that the 50,000 transit numbers to Syria, before 2011, will increase three, four or fivefold.”
He stated Syria and Iraq stay very important to Türkiye’s commerce routes and famous progress following final month’s Global Transportation Corridors Forum in Istanbul, which introduced collectively ministers, deputy ministers and senior officers from practically 40 international locations.
“Our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also attended the opening ceremony. The importance of Türkiye’s position as a corridor country was once again underlined,” he stated.
Transit revival
Aras recalled that following the outbreak of battle in Syria in 2011, items have been typically returned on the Cilvegözü Border Gate. Transit exercise to Syria fell to a standstill, and bilateral commerce with Iraq and Syria slowed sharply. “Previously, we needed to transport items by means of northern Iraq and switch them into Syria from there,” he stated.
Despite a 3% year-over-year lower in general bilateral transport to Iraq and Syria, Aras stated the transit mannequin is now gaining floor once more. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on transit transport with Syria was signed throughout the Istanbul discussion board.
He stated one among Türkiye’s transit vehicles lately departed from Izmir and delivered items to a port in Iraq for onward cargo to Gulf international locations, marking the nation’s entry into Iraq’s Truck Permit System. Three different vehicles have been loaded in Konya and routed by means of Iraq to Jordan and Kuwait.
“This improve in transit transport will deliver critical advantages to the sector and increase international trade inflows to our nation,” he stated.
Strategic worth of land routes grows
Aras pointed to present instability in maritime routes because of the Israel-Palestine battle, saying land transport by means of Syria and Iraq will turn into more and more essential for shipments to the Gulf.
He stated Türkiye won’t solely have the ability to transport European items by means of this hall but additionally increase its personal exports to international locations such because the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia.
“Given our country’s location, as our president said at the Global Transportation Corridors Forum, we are a corridor country, Aras said. “If we resolve the regional points round us, transit transportation will generate extra international forex for this nation than tourism.”
Last 12 months, the Turkish transport sector accomplished round 493,000 journeys to Iraq and 190,000 to Syria. Aras stated he expects these journeys to rise considerably in 2025 as safety improves and agreements start to take impact.
Source: www.dailysabah.com