Ankara boasted at the time that the project would bypass Israel and diminish its regional influence. Supporters of the Saudi monarchy also noted that the project dealt a \u201cfatal blow\u201d to a 2023 US-Israeli plan to link India with the Middle East, Israel and Europe. The plan hinged on Israeli-Saudi normalization, which remains distant, with Riyadh demanding irreversible progress toward Palestinian statehood, which Israel rejects.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Uraloglu said a rail link would, in its initial phase, allow for the transport of goods, oil, natural gas, and people between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Europe.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n He added that the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and possibly Yemen would be included later too.<\/p>\n \u201cA train leaving from\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Arabia, from Riyadh already reaches several regions of\u00a0Saudi\u00a0Arabia. So this is a project for it to reach\u00a0Turkey\u00a0via Jordan and Syria. We are talking about a route that will carry every type of freight via this route to Europe,\u201d Uraloglu was cited as saying.<\/p>\n \t He said the route from Saudi Arabia to Jordan\u2019s border had been finished, and, on the Turkish side, the link was completed from Islahiye to Kilis and Gaziantep in southeastern Turkey, near the border with Syria.<\/p>\n That leaves a gap of some 400 kilometers (248.55 miles) between Syria and Jordan, he said.<\/p>\n In addition to commercial trade, Uraloglu said the railway could also be used by people on the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage.<\/p>\n Turkey, which neighbors Syria, has built close ties with the government in Damascus after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, and has said it will help the country rebuild.<\/p>\n Uraloglu told Al Jazeera a financial plan would be drawn up for the rail project. The investment would include some $100 million to rebuild the route between\u00a0Turkey\u00a0and Syria\u2019s Aleppo, creating a direct link to Damascus.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tTurkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu attends the signing of a four-way memorandum of understanding between Iraq, Turkey, Qatar, and the UAE to cooperate in the Development Road project, in Baghdad, Iraq, April 22, 2024. (Thaier Al-Sudani\/Pool via AP)<\/p>\n
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