Uzbekistan aims at access to Mediterranean ports through Turkmenbashi international port
Uzbekistan intends to gain access for its cargo flows to Europe through the Caspian ports of Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line. This is a combined transport route Navoi-Turkmenbashi-Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, which would provide connection to the transport network of Turkey and access to the Mediterranean countries through the Turkish port of Mersin. The statement came from Azerbaijani Ambassador to Tashkent Huseyn Guliyev in an exclusive interview with Trend Agency. Guliyev also reminded that Uzbekistan embarked on implementation of a comprehensive program for improvement of the transport infrastructure and diversification of foreign trade routes for cargo transportation for 2018-2022. - After the approval of the program, Uzbekistan began to plan pilot transit transportation via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line in the first quarter of 2018. This program provides for Uzbekistan's participation in the formation of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey-EU single transit corridor. Uzbekistan also considers this corridor as an opportunity to reach the ports of Poti, Batumi and Chernomorsk, to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, Guliyev added. Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky, senior researcher at the Institute of world economy and international relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of political and social studies of the Black Sea-Caspian region, also pointed out the possibility of transit of Uzbek goods via mentioned route through Turkey to Europe. In addition, the operation of this corridor was discussed during the April visit of the Turkish President to Tashkent. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is significant as one of the elements in the common desire to revive the Great Silk Road. Nevertheless, if we talk about this Eurasian transport agenda, the need is felt to paraphrase the famous phrase, to say: all roads lead...via Turkmenistan. After all, it is the international port of Turkmenbashi that can provide the Uzbek cargo traffic with the so-desired access to the BTK railway. Now, let's imagine hypothetically that the corridor from Uzbekistan through the port of Turkmenbashi and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars to Europe has become operational. At the same time, any corridor, as a rule, works in both directions, which means that Europe and Turkey have additional access to Central Asia and further to the Chinese market. In parallel, with the urge to get link to the railway BTK, Uzbekistan is negotiating with Kyrgyzstan and China on the formation of a railway corridor. Therefore, the Navoi-Turkmenbashi-Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line can be extended not only to Europe, but also in the future to find departure point in China, and the role of Turkmenistan in this corridor as a key connecting transit and transport hub is inevitable.
