Turkiye, Iraq establish joint "ministerial council" to advance Development Road

Shafaq News / Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloglu, announced, on Friday, a Turkish-Iraqi decision to establish a joint mechanism similar to a "ministerial council" to monitor the "Development Road" project.

Uraloglu stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's planned visit to Baghdad at the end of April will address issues to enhance cooperation between the two countries in the "Development Road" project.

The Development Road is an economic project aiming to link Iraq with Turkiye through land routes and railways to transport goods between Europe and Gulf countries.

Uraloglu highlighted significant steps taken in the past year regarding the project, including ministerial negotiations between the two countries to enhance cooperation.

He mentioned that "Ankara hosted technical discussions led by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, with representatives from the Turkish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Trade, alongside an Iraqi delegation comprising representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Transport, and General Customs Authority."

"We have decided to establish a mechanism similar to the ministerial council between the two countries as a result of our regular meetings with Iraq," Uraloglu added.

Furthermore, he noted that he had discussions with his Iraqi counterpart, Razzaq Muhaibis Al-Saadawi, agreeing to initiate a mechanism similar to ministerial councils existing between Turkiye, Hungary, and Serbia.

He clarified that they await the participation of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, alongside Turkiye and Iraq, in the ministerial council.