Uzbekistan Accelerates Connectivity via Turkmenistan Between China, Iran and Türkiye
In Istanbul, on the sidelines of the second meeting of transport ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a trilateral meeting was held between the heads of transport authorities of Uzbekistan, Iran and Türkiye. The main outcome of the talks was a decision to fast-track the integration of a multimodal corridor in which Turkmenistan plays an irreplaceable role as a land hub.
Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Ilkhom Makhkamov, Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Farzaneh Sadegh, and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey Abdulkadir Uraloğlu discussed the creation of a seamless logistics system that would connect the east and west of Eurasia via the shortest possible route.
The key innovation of the talks was the strategic linkage of the existing Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Iran–Türkiye corridor with the under-construction China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway.
From the perspective of transport geography, Turkmenistan represents the only viable “gateway” for Chinese and Central Asian cargo seeking access to Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and to Turkey's land terminals. Integrating these routes creates a powerful Eurasian “Southern Belt” that shortens the journey from East Asia to Southern Europe by thousands of kilometres, saves up to eight days of transit time, and opens access to Iran’s deep-water ports for landlocked countries.
The participants stressed that rails and asphalt alone are not enough for the corridor to function efficiently. Ilkhom Makhkamov proposed introducing a pre-notification system at border crossings and moving fully to digital transport documentation.
For Turkmenistan, which is actively modernising border checkpoints and implementing e-TIR systems, this means transformation into a high-tech logistics hub. Coordinated infrastructure development will help avoid bottlenecks at borders and make the route via Farap and Serakhs particularly attractive for major international businesses.
To implement the agreed plans, the parties decided to establish an expert working group tasked with developing a joint programme to increase transit capacity.
In effect, Ashgabat today acts as a guarantor of stability for this corridor. Turkmenistan’s neutral status and well-developed railway network allow it to serve as the “stable link” without which the ambitious project to connect the Pacific Ocean with the Mediterranean would remain merely a concept on paper.
