photo: Facebook/Adil Karaismailoglu/Adil Karaismailoglu
The Turkish minister of transport and infrastructure, Adil Karaismailoğlu, proclaimed that Investments in Turkish freight will reach approximately 60%. The Turkish government has recently invested a lot of money into the BTK line to increase traffic through the Middle Corridor.
Building and operating the Kars Logistics Centre was part of the government’s strategy to bring more business from the New Silk Road through Turkey. The BTK railway line has also reached a crucial milestone. The data provided by the Turkish Ministry of Transport reveal that over 1,419,000 tons of freight have got transported via the BTK line, including a total of 1,262 trains and 26,214 containers
Even though the Middle corridor does not only pass via Turkey, but the country plans also to monopolize the line both with transit trains and dedicated services between Turkey and China.
A diplomatic element in this effort is the Kars Logistics Centre right at the center of the BTK line. The facility, built with national funds to promote Eurasian exchange. The Kars Logistics Centre offers a space of 400,000 square meters and can hold up to 412,000 tons. Most importantly, it has 19 railway lines able to hold many trains every single day.
To this day, the center of logistics has welcomed over 349 trains and carried out over 417000tons of freight. Turkey has not yet fulfilled all its promises but Turkey’s motivation to become a front runner in the New Silk Road is evident.
The plans seem to pay off so far, but Turkey wants more. Karaismailoğlu suggested that Turkey aims to shift “30% of the quantities passing through Russia and the Northern Route to the Middle Corridor via Turkey”.