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Türkiye’s road freight traffic to Syria jumped 60% in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, driven by improving security conditions in Syria and renewed efforts to reopen overland corridors toward the Gulf region.
According to the International Transporters Association (UND), nearly 113,000 Turkish trucks were dispatched to Syria between January and May, up from around 70,000 in the same period of 2024.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, UND Chairman Serafettin Aras said that Türkiye recently joined Iraq’s Truck Permit System, allowing Turkish vehicles to reach Gulf destinations via Iraq.
One truck recently delivered goods from Izmir to an Iraqi port for onward shipping, while others from Konya were routed to Jordan and Kuwait.
Although Türkiye’s total bilateral transport volume to Iraq and Syria declined 3% year-on-year, transit shipments through these countries are now gaining ground again, he noted.
With maritime shipping routes facing uncertainty due to the Israel-Palestine conflict, Aras said land-based corridors through Syria and Iraq are becoming increasingly valuable, both for Türkiye’s own exports and as transit paths for European goods to the Gulf.
Aras forecast that Türkiye’s road freight volumes to Syria—which stood at 190,000 trips in 2024—could grow significantly this year, approaching or exceeding pre-2011 levels of 50,000 annual transit journeys, multiplied several times over.
Following the outbreak of conflict in Syria in 2011, overland shipments were severely restricted, and transit traffic at Türkiye’s Cilvegozu border gate was nearly halted. Freight was rerouted through northern Iraq, adding time and complexity to deliveries.
To address existing challenges and strengthen logistics cooperation, a transit transport memorandum with Syria was signed during the Global Transportation Corridors Forum held in Istanbul in June.
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