Türkiye and the World Bank have signed a new partnership to strengthen Türkiye’s connectivity with Europe, Asia and the Middle East, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, including the creation of 100,000 more worldwide.
The project includes a 127-km electrified rail line crossing the Bosphorus via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge. Officials estimate it will cut logistics costs and increase annual rail freight capacity across the strait from 3 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes.
The agreement was signed by Anna Bjerde, the World Bank’s Managing Director for Operations, and Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek. Şimşek said the project is aimed at eliminating a key "bottleneck" in the so-called Middle Corridor, linking Europe with Asia by land, including through the Caucasus region. It will route trade through tunnels, reducing exposure to extreme heat, flooding, strong winds and wildfires, the World Bank said.
Happy to have signed this landmark agreement alongside @bjerde_anna and the @WorldBank team.
INRAIL is more than an ordinary railway connection.
📍 Bridging the Bosphorus: Unlocking one of the Middle Corridor’s most critical bottlenecks.
📈 Rail capacity: 3M → 50M tons/year… https://t.co/HEdjH5o3cN — Mehmet Simsek (@memetsimsek) April 15, 2026
The total cost of the project is valued at $8.1 billion, Şimşek said, with 83% financed by international financial institutions. INRAIL is the third-largest project in the history of the World Bank.
Türkiye said the project will increase capacity on the Middle Corridor railways from 3 million to 50 million tonnes per year.
The investment will create approximately 414,000 higher-paying jobs and 99,000 new jobs, according to projections.
The Middle Corridor is a transport and trade route passing through a number of countries in the region and connecting Asia with Europe. It serves as an alternative to the traditional Northern and Southern Corridors and bypasses longer sea routes, which can slow trade.
Şimşek added that the signing of the agreement reflects mutual trust in Türkiye’s development and partnership, and he expressed gratitude to the technical teams of all parties for their work.
"This project is a strategic and transformational investment for Türkiye," said Humberto Lopez, World Bank Country Director for Türkiye. "By removing a critical rail bottleneck at the Istanbul Strait and enhancing the resilience and efficiency of rail infrastructure, Türkiye is boosting its competitiveness and reinforcing its role as a logistic hub."
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has ordered Iran's armed forces to respond to any threat immediately and without geographical li...
A tenth-grade student was critically injured after a man attacked her with a chainsaw inside a classroom in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur distri...
Cryptocurrencies are volatile, and their crashes make headlines. But does a slump in digital coins ever spill over into the pounds, dollars and eur...
The Middle East conflict remains tense as diplomatic efforts continue alongside renewed Houthi attacks. Iran says it remains open to mediation, while the Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted a ballistic missile fired towards the kingdom.
Evacuations and the provision of humanitarian aid in the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky have begun, a senior Ukrainian official said on Friday. In a statement on Telegram, David Arakhamia said a six-day ceasefire was holding, and that more details would follow.
Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday as part of efforts to reach a deal between the U.S. and Iran, according to an official briefed on the talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia remains willing to rebuild relations with European countries but warned that any wider conflict on the continent would leave no winners, as he commented on recent diplomatic contacts with Nordic leaders and growing security concerns in the Baltic region.
Hackers have pulled off a staggering $6.3 billion cryptocurrency heist targeting Binance, shaking confidence in one of the world's biggest digital asset exchanges and sending crypto prices tumbling. U.S. analysts suspect North Korea was behind the attack.
Demonstrators carrying Iranian flags and placards supporting the hijab gathered outside the Azerbaijani Embassy in London.
Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan surged by 330 per cent in 2026 despite a four-year ban, the United Nations said on Thursday. Afghan authorities disputed the findings, while Japan urged continued support for farmers seeking alternative livelihoods.
Central Asia could gain up to $640 million a year from closer energy cooperation, but strained electricity grids threaten to limit those gains, with Kazakhstan particularly exposed to regional power shortages and growing pressure on its network.
Georgia and Azerbaijan are stepping up efforts to boost trade, strengthen transport links between Asia and Europe and resolve a longstanding border dispute, as both countries seek to deepen their strategic partnership.
People travelling between Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan could soon be able to pay for purchases using their usual banking apps. Central banks from the five countries are working on linking their national payment systems.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment