Turkic states press ahead with Asia-Europe transport corridor at Ankara summit
Kazakhstan's Tokayev proposes Russian seat at the table, geography converts from periphery to toll position as Brussels chases diesel from reserves
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Turkic states back Asia-Europe routes amid new opportunities
euronews.com
The Organization of Turkic States closed its 13th summit in Ankara with a declaration pressing ahead with Asia-Europe transport projects, as member governments position themselves on the corridors trade will need however the current wars end. Host Recep Tayyip Erdoğan handed the rotating chairmanship over from Azerbaijan, and the Ankara Declaration committed Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to deepening the overland routes that link Chinese manufacturing to European consumers.
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev went further, proposing to invite Russia into the organization — in the OTS Plus format or as an observer — arguing that cooperation would benefit the group. A corridor built partly to route around Russian rail leverage, welcoming its owner to the board, captures the double game landlocked Central Asian states have always played: no ally is permanent, but every route is.
The timing is the point. Eleven EU states have just pledged 20.5 million barrels of diesel from strategic reserves after sanctions cut off the cheapest supplier, and oil through the Gulf remains hostage to whatever the Hormuz strait does next. Every alternative route — across the Caspian, through the Caucasus, over Turkish territory toward European markets — weakens two chokepoints at once. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan hold the land between China and the Caspian; Azerbaijan and Türkiye hold the passage to Europe; none of them asked Brussels for permission to become indispensable.
European money will follow the capacity, as it has followed every corridor from Baku to the Baltic. The EU built its diesel shortage through sanctions policy and now pays premium prices to cover it; Ankara and Astana started pouring concrete for the exits years before the war made those exits valuable. Greenland is making the same bet with its new runway — sovereignty priced in concrete rather than treaties.
The Organization of Turkic States did not exist as a transport authority a decade ago. It now hosts the summits where the continent's map is redrawn while Brussels watches.