SOCIETY 367 / 2015

DIPLOMATIE
TÜRKEI
Turkey and China are aiming to
revive the Historic Silk Road by
means of a modern railroad system,
says Ambassador Hasan Gögüs
➢
the Jiangsu Province will be the starting point
of the Silk Road. Investments in infrastructure will
be an important aspect of this project. The Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region, which borders eight
countries, is subsequently expected to become an
important trade and transport hub.
The ongoing construction of the “Edirne-Kars
Railway” project in Turkey complements China’s
efforts to revive the section of the Historic Silk
Road that lies in our country. “Marmaray”, which
was completed in October 2013 and links Europe
and Asia under the sea, constitutes one part of the
multifaceted project aiming to contribute to the
revival of the Historic Silk Road with the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
Railway, by linking Edirne and Kars, the
most western and most eastern cities of Turkey.
The replacement of the old railway between
Turkey and China with a new and standardised
railway track system is the largest project that
Turkish and Chinese contractors are cooperating
on in various third countries.
Currently, ninety percent of Turkey’s export
to China is conducted by maritime transport.
Imports from China to Turkey are carried out 64
percent by sea, twenty percent by road and sixteen
percent by air transport. At the moment, rail
transport is not utilised for trade between the two
countries.
While costs for maritime transport are reasonable,
the duration of transport can last up to 35
days. A direct railway would shorten this length of
time to twelve to fifteen days.
Also, transferring some of our trade to the Central
Asian countries to railways, which is currently
predominantly done by road transportation, would
lower export costs and contribute to increasing our
competitiveness.
When determining the route of this railway, it
is important that the link to the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku
Railway project is included and that it passes
through Central Asia, and specifically through Kazakhstan
and Turkmenistan.
What is the current state of relations between
Turkey and Austria?
Turkey has historical relations with Austria dating
back to the fifteenth century. The Embassy in
Vienna was one of the first opened in Europe. In
the past sometimes we faced each other on the battle
field, sometimes we fought shoulder to shoulder
against the common enemies like in the First
World War.
Last year, we have marked the ninetieth anniversary
of the Treaty of Friendship and Economic
Cooperation between the young republics of Turkey
and Austria, as well as the fiftieth anniversary
of the Labor Migration Agreement. Today nearly
300,000 Turks and Austrians of Turkic origin living
in Austria also constitute a strong bridge between
our nations. Last year more than half a million Aus-
Fotos: SOCIETY/Pobaschnig
52 | SOCIETY 1_2015