Political expert Turkic countries are the guarantor of transport communication between Europe and China
The interaction of various specialized organizations, particularly in the field of railways, and countries of the Council of Turkic-speaking States becomes especially important in the new circumstances, Ilgar Velizade, political expert, member of the club of political scientists "South Caucasus" exclusively told News.Az, commenting on the plans of the countries of the Turkic Council to activate transport corridors.
"Since many states have introduced quarantine measures, transport links, both international and regional, have been severely disrupted or limited. Interaction between the Turkic countries guarantees that transport communication between China and Europe and vice versa will not be blocked," he said.
According to him, the intensification of this process is crucial not only for providing logistical opportunities for the economies of the countries in the conditions of coronavirus pandemic but also in the long term, when the countries will start to recover and build their economies.
"In general, the interest in this Trans-Caspian transport route with the participation of the Turkic countries has been increasing significantly recently. Such countries as Georgia, Ukraine, Poland, and even Austria have also joined it and started cooperating with it. This all suggests that this route is currently an alternative in the system of the so-called middle route within the framework of the "One belt – One road" project, which also consists of the North and South routes", the expert noted.
Velizade also stressed the importance of discussion by the Council of Turkic-speaking States on the issues of simplification of transport through the territory of their states: "This is an issue of activating the process of unification of customs procedures and transit duties".
According to the expert, Hungary's participation in the Council of Turkic-speaking States as an observer country is extremely significant in terms of the interest of a number of other EU countries in the economic and, in particular, transport potential of the Turkic Council countries.
"The above said makes the prospects for the development of this transport corridor quite certain in the new conditions and contributes to its development, the accession of an increasing number of countries, participants, I mean commercial ones. This all, of course, indicates the expansion of its capacities", Ilgar Velizade concluded.
News.Az
