Transport

Turkey has easy and direct access by road, sea and, to a lesser extent, rail to markets with 1.5bn people and a combined GDP of $25trn. In 2012 Turkey handled 1.2% of global trade, and this is expected to exceed 1.5% by 2025. The 2014 budget allocated €16.72bn to transport, of which €2.04bn was earmarked for rail, almost double that going to the road network. At €3.27bn, the Marmaray project topped the list of spending in 2014. Dozens of construction projects are on the current agenda. Among them are high-speed rail links, bridges, motorways, the world’s largest airport and a 50-km channel that will transform half of Istanbul into an island. Carrying out so many grand plans will prove costly, and inevitably some will be scaled back or scrapped altogether, but judging by what Turkey has accomplished so far, many of these projects may well be realized.

This chapter contains interviews with Turgut Erkeskin, President, Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Services Providers, and Mümin Kahveci, General Manager, Istanbul Electric Tramway and Tunnel Establishments.