Turkey supports the further implementation of TRACECA initiatives and is ready to provide direct assistance

The agenda of the meetings included an exchange of views on initiatives, approved TRACECA projects and other topics, including the Agreement on a Single Transit Permit and Turkey's position on this issue, the issue of increasing the quota of the TRACECA Multilateral Permits System, organization of ferry traffic with ports of Georgia, RO-RO connection in Turkey-Romania direction, as well as containerization, simplification of border crossing procedures at checkpoints.

During the discussion with Mr. Burak Aykan, National Secretary of TRACECA in Turkey, the huge work that is being done to digitalize transport in the country and the efforts made were noted.

Mr. A.A. Assavbayev and Mr. B. Aykan touched upon the issues of further cooperation with TRACECA partners, the Action Plan or the Roadmap for improving and increasing the competitiveness of the corridor, where the Turkish Party will present its recommendations.

Mr. A. A. Assavbayev, Secretary General elaborated on the study on maritime transportation in the Black and Caspian Seas, including the conceptual design of the ships’ construction for maritime transportation in the Caspian Sea and the determination of optimal parameters of ferries for maritime transportation in the Black Sea, given the cargo flow.

 "Conducting an analysis of the current fleet of TRACECA countries, including ferries and feeder vessels, identifying bottlenecks and factors constraining the maritime transport development – these tasks are being worked on by consultants involved by the PS. We are planning to present their work to the countries before we accept the result," Mr. A. A. Assavbayev, Secretary General noted.

In addition, Mr. Assavbayev noted TRACECA's plans to train specialists of the maritime administration of the TRACECA countries’ ports in order to increase competence, and in this regard, the best practices of the country are useful.

The Turkish Party also supports the PS willingness to expand and interact with the European Commission. The participants of the meeting touched upon the issues of recent visits to Brussels related to the need to resume technical assistance projects for TRACECA beneficiary countries and areas of interaction.     

"We are ready to share our experience and contribute to deepening cooperation to stimulate a promising TRACECA-EU dialogue and initiatives for development of the ITC TRACECA," Mr. Burak Aykan, National Secretary in Turkey pointed out.

The programme of the visit of the Secretary General of the PS IGC TRACECA to Turkey includes meetings with Mr. Murat Baştor, Director General for Regulation of Transport Services of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr. Hasan Pezük, Chairman of the Board and General Director of Turkish Railways, as well as Mr. Nedim Yeşil, Head of Department for EU Investments.

Moreover, Mr. A. Assavbayev also visited the Çerkezköy - Kapikule Section of Halkali - Kapikule Railway Line Project (Çe-Ka) which is under construction and the largest container port ASYAPORT in Tekirdag.

During the visit to Çe-Ka, the representatives of the section reported that as soon as the construction of ÇE-KA is completed and connected to the Halkali- Kapikule line, it will link Asia with Turkey, and Turkey with Europe, through a route reaching all the way to Bulgaria.   

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The ÇE-KA project, with a record-breaking budget which is jointly financed by the Republic of Turkey and the European Union is to be completed in 2023.

The second section between Halkali and Çerkezköy, forming the 76-km long part of Halkali- Kapikule, will be built using national funds of Turkey. The construction of the 153-km long of Çerkezköy - Kapikule section (ÇE-KA) is jointly financed by the Republic of Turkey and the European Union.

The Asyaport was designed as the largest container port in Turkey. As of 2021, the port accounts for 42% of transit container handling in Turkey.  The total length of the port area is 300,000 m2. The total stacking capacity in the port is 46,477 TEU.

The Medlog warehouse (100,000 m2) is used for stacking empty-full containers, container repairs and similar services. It is planned to create a warehouse and an import container site in the area of its location. Since 2021, the filling of containers in the Medlog warehouse has begun. In 2022, an average of 80 ship calls is carried out monthly.

One of the largest container carriers in the world in Asyaport - MSC has been operating in Turkey since 1995, with a fleet of 700 container ships.  Operates in 155 countries around the world, performs more than 250 rotations and 500 port calls. It carries out 33 direct flights from Turkey and provides connections to 500 ports around the world. The port offers services in the Black Sea-Turkey-Eastern Mediterranean, Far East to Eastern Mediterranean, Georgia service, feeder to Bulgaria, Marmara feeder Greek Shuttle, Northern Europe-Turkey directions