The United States is bombing Iran, Tehran is threatening the Strait of Hormuz, and world markets are once again pricing in the risks of energy supply disruptions.
The new crisis gives Türkiye a chance to turn its geography into a strategic asset and offer alternative trade routes to the region and the world.
But is the land corridor through Türkiye capable of becoming a real alternative to Hormuz, or is it still only a long-term geopolitical ambition?
The latest escalation around one of the world’s key energy corridors has highlighted a deeper structural shift: global trade continues to rely on maritime routes whose vulnerabilities are outpacing the international system’s ability to secure them.
Hormuz is not just a strait. This is the point where geopolitics directly collides with the global economy. And each new crisis around it shifts the previously peripheral question into a strategic centre: Is there a real land alternative for the Persian Gulf?
It is in this logic that Türkiye is increasingly perceived not as a regional player but as a potential transit hub between two economic spaces – the Gulf countries and Europe.
Today, the high dependence of world trade on a limited number of sea routes is obvious. Despite technological progress and the development of logistics, a significant share of global commodity and energy flows remains concentrated in narrow sea corridors that are sensitive to political and military instability.
Maritime trade remains the backbone of the global economy due to low transportation costs and high throughput. However, this advantage also creates a major vulnerability: the security of maritime communications depends not on a single state, but on the overall balance of power in the region.
In the context of growing instability, states are increasingly turning to land transport corridors as an element of strategic insurance.
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Such routes are more expensive and less capacious, but they have a key geopolitical advantage: transit countries are directly interested in their protection and sustainable functioning.
Historically, two transport and economic spaces have been formed in the Middle East: the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The former has dominated for decades thanks to energy exports, while the latter has remained constrained by political fragmentation and chronic instability, including the Syrian conflict.
Despite numerous crises, the Strait of Hormuz has retained its status as the region’s main energy gateway.
However, the increase in tensions between Iran, the US and Israel is gradually turning it from a stable route into a potential zone of systemic risk.
Even without the actual closure of the strait, the very likelihood of its being blocked becomes a source of strategic pressure. This creates a new demand – the diversification of supply routes.
Türkiye as a transit hub between continents
In this context, the importance of Türkiye, located at the junction of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Europe, is increasing.
Ankara already has practical experience in implementing trans-regional infrastructure projects, from the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, and in participating in the development of the Middle Corridor.
However, today we are no longer talking about a single transport project, but about the formation of a network of interconnected corridors that can reshape the logistics map of the Middle East.
The Development Road project, promoted by Iraq, Türkiye, Qatar, and the UAE, attracts the most attention.
The project envisages the creation of about 1,200 kilometres of railways and highways from the Al-Faw port under construction on the shores of the Gulf of Basra to the Turkish border.
The route will pass through Basra, Diwaniyah, Najaf, Karbala, Baghdad, and Mosul, then connect to the Turkish transport network and Mediterranean ports.
According to Iraqi authorities, the cost of the project could exceed $17 billion, and its cumulative economic effect over the next decade is estimated at about $55 billion.
In parallel, a second route is being developed, which many experts consider a modern continuation of the historic Hejaz Railway. The project involves connecting Saudi Arabia with Türkiye through Jordan and Syria.
The Saudi railway network has already been extended to the Jordanian border, and Türkiye is expanding its infrastructure toward Syria.
After the completion of the missing sections in Syria and Jordan, a direct railway route will connect Istanbul, Aleppo, Damascus, Amman, Tabuk, Medina and Mecca, with access to the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea.
