The 10th World Turkic Business Council (DTIK) Congress opened in Istanbul on Friday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a guest of honor at the two-day event hosted by Türkiye’s Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).

"The Turkic world is open to development and is engaged in a new awakening thanks to its strong state tradition," Erdoğan told participants of the event. "We are working to improve our historic, economic and political ties. We will start a new period for us and for our brothers and sisters in the diaspora," the president said.

Erdoğan praised the event, saying that he hoped such events would create a new social wave. "It is time to put aside century-old suffering and splits. We have to unite and consolidate as the Turkic world. Türkiye is doing its part to enable it," he said.

"We are here today with members of the Turkish diaspora, brothers and sisters from the Turkic and Islamic world. Altogether, they represent an immense potential and it is a challenge for those who see (the diaspora, the Turkic world and the Islamic world) as a threat. The Turkic world, with its accumulation of civilizations, state traditions, solid social structure and visionary institutions, is experiencing a new awakening and a new rise," he said.

The president urged the establishment of more efficient mechanisms of cooperation and expressed faith that they would unite in common goals. "We have to seek ways to improve our relations. Otherwise, we will be surrounded by terrorist groups, certain powers and other circles with bad intentions," he added.

Road of development

Addressing the same event, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said that a major infrastructure and transportation project planned to stretch from the Iraqi province of Basra to the Turkish border is expected to enter the implementation phase within a few months.

"We hope to move into the implementation phase of the Development Road Project, which is of great importance for prosperity and stability in the Middle East, within the next few months," Fidan said.

Türkiye and Iraq are working to build a land and railroad transportation corridor from the Iraqi province of Basra to the Turkish border. Referring to the agreement on the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor signed at the G-20 summit in New Delhi last week, Fidan said, "We, located where three continents converge, are open to any plan that promotes cooperation.

"However, it should be known that in our region, effective and sustainable operation of energy and transportation corridors without Türkiye's involvement is not possible."

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, which connects the Turkic world to Europe via the Caspian Sea, and the Development Road that will pass through Iraq to Türkiye, underscore Türkiye's central role, he added. Some international developments such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the COVID-19 outbreak, which have deeply affected the global and geopolitical environment, have proven that the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route is a reliable alternative, he said.