The new 1,200km highway connecting Iraq and Turkey will revitalise transport for the region. The respective transport ministers of Turkey, Iraq and also the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have been involved in discussions over the planned highway project.
Building a new highway between the port of Basra in Iraq with Mersin in Southern Turkey will provide an important trade route for the region. This would provide an overland transport route that would potentially rival the Suez Canal in Egypt, linking the Persian Gulf with the Mediterranean.
The first phase will be completed in 2028, the second in 2033 and the third in 2050, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Transport. It will create a land route and railway extending from Iraq to Turkey and its ports in order to export and import from Europe.
