Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests

This year we are celebrating 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Türkiye. We already started celebrations with a series of events that mark our rich history, culture, art, traditions and achievements. As part of these activities, today it is a privilege for me to co-host this round table meeting within the framework of the Turkish Century.

I would like to welcome you all to this meeting on a topic that is very important not only to develop cooperation among our countries, but also with Europe. It has been 100 years, and the transportation infrastructure and networks of Türkiye have developed immensely.

And in Europe, the war in Ukraine has started a chain-reaction of geopolitical developments affecting all of us. The international community had already been trying to deal with a variety of risks and challenges, such as climate change, sustainable development and energy security. But the upheaval caused by the developments in Ukraine have only brought these risks and challenges more into focus.

In terms of combating the effects of climate change and global warming, the continued discussions on ending humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels, energy transformation and clean energy have been at the forefront. Therefore, today’s meeting is not only very timely, but it also provides an opportune venue to explore new and alternative options to discuss further cooperation.

Europe is in constant search for alternative means for energy security. The significance of the energy producing countries of the Caspian basin is being discussed more and more.

The Middle Corridor project we will be elaborating on today is fully in line with this discussion, with a view to contribute to energy supply security of the ever-growing European market. Türkiye is strategically positioned as a transit country for such a scheme. Strategic infrastructure is already in place, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines, which are also interconnected to other westward transport means.

This is, of course, not a new area of cooperation for the host countries. Our common intention is to talk about this potential and place the Middle Corridor on the map.

Our experts including the Director General Burak Aykan at the Turkish Ministry of Transportation will give detailed inputs to this discussion.

I thank them in advance for their contributions and all the ones who helped the organization of this event.