Iraq is angling to begin moving trade overland to Turkey via Syria. This is an important development and could upend trade routes in the region. With the Strait of Hormuz remaining closed and Iraq unable to export oil, it is clearly in Iraq's and many other countries' interest to determine whether trade can flow through Syria. With investment now more available and the issue becoming increasingly acute, there is a major push to change things.
Trade has a kind of inertia. As long as trade could move through the Persian Gulf, there was little need to invest in infrastructure through Syria. A decade-long Syrian civil war and the rise of ISIS also made trade through Syria impossible. Now, everything is different. There is a new Syrian government, and with sanctions on Damascus being lifted, many see Syria as a potential regional hub. Turkey wants to help Syria move in this direction.
Iraq has some reticence, in part because Iranian-backed militias in Iraq oppose the new government in Damascus. However, trade may prove more important than sectarian ideology.
Rudaw, a Kurdish channel based in Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, said last week that “spanning 1,200 kilometers, the $17 billion project will extend from Faw Port in Iraq’s southern Basra province on the Gulf to the country’s northern border with Turkey. The project includes railways and highways designed to transport goods and passengers, aiming to position Iraq as a regional trade hub. It is expected to generate annual revenues of $4 billion.”
Turkey less wary of trade through eastern Syria
The report added that “in a notable development, the first Iraq-Turkey transit convoy arrived in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province via Syria on Monday, a move that some analysts say could potentially weaken the Kurdistan Region’s trade with Turkey as it marks a notable shift in trade routes between Ankara and Baghdad.”
The first convoy has now made the transit via Iraq’s Rabi’a crossing. The trucks entered the Nineveh Plains north of Mosul after arriving from Turkey through Syria, where they crossed at Tal Abyad. Tal Abyad is an area that Turkey had occupied in Syria. A notable change in Syria has made this possible. The Syrian Democratic Forces are integrating with Damascus, which means Turkey is less wary of trade through eastern Syria.
Omar al-Waili, head of Iraq’s Border Crossings Authority, said in a statement that the “Rabia crossing witnessed the launch of goods transportation in transit form.” Rudaw noted that “he further noted that the route would eventually become an important part of the Development Road Project, turning Iraq into a global logistics hub.”
Sirwa Mohammed, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s economy and trade committee, told Rudaw that “Omar al-Waili informed me that Turkey itself requested the reopening of the Rabia crossing so that the largest share of trade movement would pass through this route.”