Turkey, Syria plan trade corridor cutting Israel out of major intercontinental route – report

As Syria stabilizes post-coup, Turkey eyes alternative trade route to planned India-Mideast-Europe corridor, bypassing Israel completely.

By World Israel News Staff

Turkey and Syria are planning to establish a new trade corridor linking India and Europe via the Gulf and Syria, potentially bypassing Israel, according to a report aired Sunday on Israel’s national broadcaster, Kan News.

The planned trade route takes advantage of the stabilization of post-coup Syria and offers a partial solution to Iranian disruptions of international trade through the Strait of Hormuz, which have underscored the vulnerability of regional energy and goods supply routes.

The ongoing war with Iran and Tehran’s partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz have refocused attention on the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC, a major trade route that was promoted under the Biden administration prior to the October 7, 2023, massacre.

The IMEC had been envisioned as a strategic route connecting India to Europe through the Middle East, with Israel and Saudi Arabia expected to play central roles. The project was also seen as a potential pillar of future normalization between Jerusalem and Riyadh.

According to the report, however, Turkey and Syria are now pushing an alternative route. Ankara and Damascus — whose direct exposure to the Iran war is seen as relatively limited compared with other regional states — are reportedly working to establish a new economic corridor from the Gulf to Europe that could come at Israel’s expense.

The original IMEC concept was expected to move goods from India to Gulf states, then overland through Jordan to Israeli ports before continuing to Europe. If Israel is excluded from a new competing route, the economic implications could be significant, with potential future losses estimated in the billions of dollars.

In recent days, Syrian officials and commentators have reportedly spoken openly about infrastructure plans tied to such a corridor, including a high-speed rail link connecting Syria to Saudi Arabia via Jordan. Discussions have also included the possibility of a pipeline network that would transport oil from northeastern Saudi Arabia to Syrian ports, a development that could also serve Turkish economic interests.

While no final framework has been announced, the reported initiative highlights how the regional war and uncertainty surrounding maritime chokepoints are accelerating efforts to reshape trade routes across the Middle East.

Last week, Alparslan Bayraktar, Turkey’s minister of energy and natural resources, suggested that Turkey could provide a solution to the energy crisis created by Iran’s partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Consider a scenario where your LNG facilities are hit, exports halt, and the Strait of Hormuz is blocked—now imagine a pipeline delivering gas to Turkey and onward to Europe,” Bayraktar told Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.

“Syria is normalizing. A year or two ago, we might not have been able to discuss this, but now the connection of oil from Syria’s oil fields to the Iraq-Turkey Oil Pipeline is a project on the table.”