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A Gulf-backed consortium is planning a $700 million data cable project that would connect the United Arab Emirates to Türkiye through Iraq, positioning Ankara as a key transit point for data moving between Asia and Europe.
The initiative, known as WorldLink, includes an undersea cable running from the UAE to Iraq’s Faw peninsula on the Gulf, followed by a terrestrial connection extending north to the Turkish border. The system is designed to offer an alternative to traditional routes, helping reduce congestion and shorten transmission times.
WorldLink is being developed by a consortium that includes Iraq’s Tech 964, DIL Technologies and UAE-based Breeze Investments. The project will be privately funded and rolled out in phases over five years.
The investment comes as Gulf countries step up efforts to expand their role in global data infrastructure, driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence, cloud services, and data centers.
Shortly before the project was unveiled, Saudi Arabia and Syria announced the SilkLink fiber-optic network on Feb. 7, a roughly $1 billion effort to restore Syria’s digital infrastructure and establish it as a new data corridor between Asia and Europe.
Faster and more resilient connections are increasingly seen as critical to supporting AI-related operations and international data traffic. If completed as planned, the system would strengthen Türkiye’s position as a strategic gateway for digital traffic between the Middle East and Europe.
For Iraq, the cable aligns with broader efforts to position itself as a stable transit corridor linking the Gulf to Europe after decades of conflict.
In 2023, the country launched the $17 billion Development Road project to connect the southern port of Faw to Türkiye through rail and road networks, aiming to strengthen regional transport and trade links.
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