Minister Uraloğlu unveils Türkiye century projects to transform transportation

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu explained the Türkiye Century projects that will change the face of the country and provide millions of citizens with a more comfortable life and transportation.

Minister Uraloğlu answered SABAH's questions during the lighting ceremony of the Bahçe-Nurdağı Fevzipaşa Variant Railway Tunnel. His messages were as follows:

The Canal Istanbul Project has been prepared with great sensitivity. Now, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change is working on the zoning regulations around it. The Ministry said, "This area is the reserve area of Istanbul." We should focus on this seriously to reduce Istanbul's risk.

At this point, serious financing is needed for the Canal Istanbul. We are also having occasional discussions about this. It was also brought up during our President's Gulf tour. We are working on how financing can be arranged in Türkiye's favor and under what conditions.

According to the Montreux Convention, the passage through the strait should be 1 gold franc, which is 18 dollars. However, with the recent increase, this amount has reached 4.45 dollars. If it were 18 dollars, it would mean an annual revenue of 700-800 million dollars. This would be a significant financial source for the Canal Istanbul.

We have been in talks with companies that build such maritime structures worldwide for the Canal Istanbul for a few years, but we need to find the right conditions for Türkiye. There is a process of aligning the conditions in the right place.

The project for a train line passing through the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge is completed, and there are contacts with the European Investment Bank and Western financiers regarding financing. They have approaches to take part in the Gulf and provide support. I think there will be a development there in the coming days.

The project will cost over 3 billion Euros. Once started, it will take 5-6 years. If we start the tender this year, we can begin construction next year. The completion will be around 2028-2029. This way, we will connect Europe and Asia, Beijing and London, with a railway for the second time after Marmaray.

There are 18 corridors connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. This means 10,500 kilometers of road. 90% of it is already completed, and we will complete the remaining parts. We have connected Samsun to Mersin and also with a few alternatives.

We have a project to extend the Ankara-Sivas high-speed train line from Delice to Çorum, then to Samsun. Then, we will continue from there to Batumi along the Black Sea coast. If we connect this line to the Ankara-Konya-Karaman line and from Ulukışla to Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye, Gaziantep, we will also descend from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. The recently built high-speed train lines are also designed for freight transportation.