The Turkish Minister of Transport in an interview with Al Jazeera Net: We will soon lay the foundation stone for the development road project with Iraq. The Turkish Minister of Transport in an interview with Al Jazeera Net: We will soon lay the foundation stone for the development road project with Iraq News | Al Jazeera Net Skip links Go to content Live broadcast Registration Navigation menu News Show more Arabic.
Therefore, we said that Iraq can benefit from its natural wealth to finance the project, whether through minerals or oil, and we previously presented this idea, but it remained suspended, and during this visit, as well as during the visit of the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Alp Arslan Bayraktar, we sensed on the Iraqi side a greater willingness to adopt the financing formula in exchange for oil.
Details
However, these transformations were not the only concern during our quick visit, which did not exceed 4 hours, accompanied by the Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Oraloglu, as the busy and disciplined agenda imposed a fast pace that left no room for exploring the city.
A new government has been formed in Iraq, and there is no doubt that diplomatic and official relations are important, but direct communication and face-to-face meetings are always more effective in getting work done, and there were two ministers concerned for me, namely the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Communications.
We also talked about linking the Fishkhabur area on the Iraqi side to the Ovaköy area on the Turkish side, located on the southeastern border of Turkey. Work is underway to open a new border crossing in this area and build a road through it, and it is likely that this route will be approved. We also discussed the project financing model.
We want to lay the foundation stone for this project during the current year, and the Prime Minister has made his calculations in a practical manner and confirmed that he views the matter positively. I have great conviction that this file will be resolved during our president’s visit, and I believe that we will be able to start work very quickly, with the participation of Turkish contractors, and of course in partnership with local authorities.
This visit came to put an end to the years-long stumbling block in the strategic “development road” project, which connects the Al-Faw port on the Gulf to the Ovakoy crossing on the Turkish border with railways and highways.
Previously, this project was discussed between the UAE, Qatar, Turkey, and Iraq on the basis of securing international funding for it, but unfortunately no progress has been achieved so far, due to the elections that Iraq witnessed, and the Gulf states’ preoccupation with developments in the war against Iran.
The development project has been stalled for a long time and has not made progress. What did you discuss about it with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport?
I wanted us to define the roadmap for the work that we will implement together, before the Iraqi Prime Minister’s visit to Türkiye on the 28th of this month and his meeting with our president.
Statements
“Can we get it done in a shorter time?”
