Türkiye expects the Development Road, a planned trade corridor linking the Persian Gulf to Europe through Iraq, to add about $55 billion to its economy over 10 years once completed, a senior official said Monday.

The project should also create jobs for roughly 70,000 people a year, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu said.

Uraloğlu was speaking in Ankara at a conference on changing global transport geopolitics and the Development Road project.

Cargo leaving Iraq’s Faw Port, on the Gulf coast in Iraq’s far south, would travel about 1,200 kilometers (745.65 miles) by rail to Ovaköy, a crossing on the Türkiye-Iraq border in southeastern Türkiye. From there, it would continue across Türkiye toward Europe. The initiative was unveiled in May 2023 and is estimated to cost $20 billion.

Jobs from logistics, production hubs

Uraloğlu said the jobs would come from production and logistics centers built along the route.

The project also includes energy transmission lines and fiber optic infrastructure alongside the rail and road links, and officials hope it will further deepen economic ties between Türkiye and Iraq.

He also said transit from the Gulf to Europe along the route would fall to about 25 days.

That compares with 45 days around the Cape of Good Hope, off Africa’s southwestern coast, and 35 days via the Southern Corridor.

Lower logistics costs, Uraloğlu added, would make Turkish exporters more competitive and strengthen Türkiye’s position in global trade.

Officials have repeatedly tied the project to instability around the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait is the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which much of the world’s oil was shipped before the Iran war started.

Uraloğlu had said that had the Development Road been completed, the world’s energy supply would have been far less affected, and that the project would be started quickly after the war ends.

Transit push

The Development Road forms part of Türkiye’s wider push to become a transit hub between Asia and Europe. It complements the Middle Corridor, the route across Central Asia and the Caucasus, and Ankara has described both as central to Türkiye’s strategy.

Earlier this month, Türkiye opened the Çerkezköy-Kapıkule section, the longest part of the Halkalı-Kapıkule high-speed rail line, extending the network to the Bulgarian border.

The line is 229 kilometers long. It begins on Istanbul’s western edge and ends at Türkiye’s main rail and road border crossing with Bulgaria, at Kapıkule near the northwestern city of Edirne.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the line is a key component of the 2,094-kilometer Turkish section of the Development Road. The line extends the European end of the same network.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Türkiye’s top economic officials on Monday discussed, among others, the winding down of investment funds caught up in last month’s turmoil.

A statement after the meeting of the Economic Coordination Board (EKK) said payments to investors in the funds should start soon after Parliament passes a liquidation bill, which is due to be debated this week.

The board, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, also reviewed education and labor-market policy and revisions to balance of payments statistics.

The Fund Coordination Board said Sunday that authorities have settled about half of the funds ordered to be wound down. All 66 funds run by A1 Capital, Bulls and Pardus have been settled, covering more than 45,000 people and TL 40.8 billion ($823.37 million) in cash and in kind.

The goal this week, the board said, is to pay the largest number of participants, primarily those in money market funds. The remaining funds belong to Tera, Pusula, Hedef and Atlas.

The bill governing liquidation of the troubled funds has been submitted to Parliament and approved by its Planning and Budget Committee, the EKK said. Interim payments are expected to begin as soon as possible once it enters into force.

The crisis erupted last month after several funds said they could not meet investors’ redemption requests during a market sell-off, prompting a wide investigation into suspected price manipulation in thinly traded stocks.

The Capital Markets Board (SPK) suspended trading in 131 funds run by seven asset management companies, affecting nearly half a million investors.

Prosecutors have issued asset freezes and travel bans and have arrested more than 80 people, including the top executives of the asset management companies.

Economic outlook

The EKK said Türkiye’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and firmly applied policies should keep the impact of recent developments on the financial system and the real economy limited. The measures taken are meant to make capital markets more reliable and efficient, it said.

The statement described the global economy as passing through a period of multiple shocks, with uncertainty and risk at historically high levels. Supply shocks and supply chain disruptions driven by the Iran war are weighing on the global outlook, it said, making economic resilience and stability more important.

Türkiye’s economic program has made growth more balanced, lowered unemployment and inflation, strengthened financial stability and established fiscal discipline, according to the statement. The government’s aim now is to protect those gains while raising production capacity, productivity and competitiveness.

Education, jobs

The board named raising the quantity and quality of education, and linking education more closely to employment, as priorities, noting that education has had the largest share of the budget for years.

It said green, digital and demographic change are reshaping labor-market needs, so education and employment policies must keep pace with technology and sector needs.

The government wants to increase the supply of skilled workers where they are needed, support productivity and encourage groups that struggle to enter the labor force, especially young people and women, to find work.

Balance of payments

The board also assessed how revisions to balance of payments statistics affect the “net errors and omissions” line, which captures transactions the statistics do not record.

The EKK includes the ministers of finance, trade, labor, energy, industry and agriculture, along with senior officials from other key economic institutions, including the central bank.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Insurance companies have set aside nearly TL 2 billion (about $40.4 million) as of Monday to cover damage from last week’s record rainfall and flooding in Istanbul and five other provinces, according to the Insurance Association of Türkiye.

The amount is an estimate of what insurers expect to owe on filed claims, and only a small fraction has been paid so far.

The historic rainfall, which officials said was the heaviest since records began in 1942, caused chaos and flash flooding, with footage showing cars and people being dragged away by the fast-flowing waters.

Six died in Istanbul, while the bodies of two more people from the neighboring Kocaeli province were washed up on the southeastern outskirts of the megacity, Istanbul governor Davut Gül told reporters on Monday.

So far, authorities have received nearly 20,000 reports about property damage as a result of the torrential rainfall and the resulting floods, Gül said.

“We experienced a disaster that generated around 19,300 reports, each with different types of problems. At this point, it has been determined that around 2,000 homes and about 900 businesses … have suffered serious damage,” he said.

On Friday, the authorities paid out TL 10,000 to 5,200 affected residents and were to pay out the same amount to another 2,500 people on Monday, he said.

The amounts insurers estimate they will owe on filed claims as of Monday stood at over TL 1.9 billion across 2,379 damage files under flood and inundation coverage in fire and motor policies, a report by Anadolu Agency (AA) said.

The affected provinces are Istanbul, Kocaeli, Yalova, Bursa and Sakarya in northwestern Türkiye’s Marmara region, and Antalya on the Mediterranean coast in the south. Kocaeli lies just east of Istanbul, and Sakarya lies further east.

In the fire branch, which covers fire, natural disaster and home insurance, insurers reserved nearly TL 1.56 billion for 1,638 files. In the motor own-damage branch, they reserved TL 345.75 million for 741 files.

Istanbul has the largest share in both. In fire insurance, reserves for Istanbul reached about TL 1.39 billion and for Kocaeli about TL 164 million. In motor insurance, Istanbul’s reserves were about TL 312 million.

Insurers have paid 13 claims totaling TL 389,535 in the fire branch. No payments have been made yet in the motor branch.

Policyholders have filed 2,453 damage notifications in all: 1,703 in the fire branch and 750 in the motor branch.

In fire insurance, Istanbul has 1,486 notifications, of which 12 files have received payments totaling TL 382,886. By segment, residential policyholders filed 821 notifications and 11 were paid, totaling TL 378,263. Commercial policyholders filed 563 and one was paid, totaling TL 4,623. The 102 industrial notifications have received no payments yet.

Kocaeli has 179 fire notifications, with one payment of TL 6,649 on a residential claim. Yalova filed 18, Antalya 14 and Bursa six.

In motor insurance, Istanbul has 670 notifications, Kocaeli and Antalya 35 each, Sakarya nine and Yalova one. Bursa has none.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Paris and Milan stocks spearheaded a decline in European markets on Monday, as intensifying violence in France and street clashes in Italy’s financial hub heightened concerns about mounting debt levels.

Most sectors were dragged lower, while there was renewed selling of bonds and the euro.

However, tech stocks led a rebound on Wall Street on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite climbing 1.0% as trading got underway in New York.

“There was no mistaking that last week was a tough week for the semiconductor and AI trade,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

Concerns about rising investment costs and whether the vast sums pumped into the sector would see a return dominated sentiment, with investors dumping the stocks and bonds of a company providing computing power for AI firms.

“Staying true to form, though, there is a buy-the-dip bid in those stocks this morning,” O’Hare added.

Whether that rebound continues may depend on tech firm earnings and their message about AI investment as more companies report their third-quarter earnings this week.

“Earnings this week will be crucial to broader risk sentiment. In particular, (Facebook parent) Meta is in focus as the first of the five major hyperscalers to report,” said Saxo UK investor strategist Neil Wilson.

‘Worst of it’

In Europe, Paris stocks dropped 1.7% and Milan fell 1.8% in afternoon trading.

“European shares were broadly weaker, but France and Italy are getting the worst of it,” noted Saxo’s Wilson.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday slammed the “unbridled” violence that erupted alongside cost-of-living demonstrations across the country, as police battled protesters and looters in new clashes in Paris.

Nearly 2,400 people were arrested Saturday in unrest that represented some of the worst urban violence in France in years, with almost 1,000 police injured, the interior ministry said.

It comes as the country’s lawmakers wrangle over a 2027 budget plan that calls for billions of euros in spending cuts but which keeps France’s debt levels extremely high.

In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was holding a security meeting Monday to address the Milan violence, which resembled some scenes of chaos and looting in Paris.

Oil prices pulled back Monday on signs that supplies continued to leave the Middle East despite Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on key Saudi Arabian crude sites.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to waive a new package of energy sanctions on Russia also weighed on oil futures, according to analysts.

Jakarta’s stock market sank over 5% on Monday, extending Friday’s plunge of more than 11%, to close at its lowest level in six years.

It came after index compiler MSCI said it was “no longer appropriate” to maintain the country’s emerging-market status, fuelling fears of an exodus of foreign investment.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The head of the Turkish capital markets regulator stepped down on Monday, citing health problems while the country’s deputy finance minister has asked to retire with immediate effect, media reports said.

The chief of the Capital Markets Board (SPK), Mahmut Sütçü, who assumed the post earlier this year, resigned, reports, including Anadolu Agency (AA), said.

Deputy Treasury and Finance Minister Osman Çelik has also tendered his resignation to the Treasury chief, Mehmet Şimşek, according to the information obtained from ministry sources.

The departures come amid the last month’s turmoil affecting Türkiye’s investment fund industry.

The crisis began after several funds said they could not meet investors’ redemption requests during a market sell-off. That prompted a wide investigation into suspected price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks.

SPK quickly suspended trading in 131 funds run by seven asset management companies and placed them into liquidation, affecting nearly half a million investors.

Authorities have also established a special board to coordinate the process and the board held its sixth meeting on Sunday, the Communications Directorate said.

The Turkish main stock index BIST 100 dropped 2.49% to close at 11.430,14 points on Monday.

The Daily Sabah Newsletter

Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.

SIGN ME UP

You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Muhamad Yasin, a 63-year-old parking attendant in central Jakarta, says he has cut back on meals as rising prices have ​put food staples beyond his reach.

“I used to be able to get rice, tempeh and tofu for 7,000 to 8,000 rupiah ($0.39 to $0.44). Now it’s 15,000 rupiah,” said Yasin, who earns 200,000 to 300,000 rupiah a week, beside the minimarket where he watches over parked motorcycles.

Global food inflation ⁠is poised to accelerate in the coming months and persist well into 2027, as ⁠war-related shipping disruptions and El Nino-driven drought squeeze cereal supplies, putting additional pressure on vulnerable consumers like Yasin, a father of four.

In Indonesia, rice prices have already jumped to record highs amid forecasts of delayed rains, while the cost of bread in Egypt has risen by a quarter and sugar prices in India hit an all-time high as the ​weakest monsoon in over a decade curbed production.

“All this has put considerable pressure on the system,” said Maximo Torero, chief economist at ​the ⁠United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

“We will see a bigger impact towards the end of the year, at the beginning of next year and potentially throughout next year.”

The world’s poorest consumers are being hit the hardest as food prices rise sharply in low- and middle-income countries across the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, where food accounts for a larger share of household spending.

According to the World Bank, food prices in the September quarter outpaced headline inflation in 22% of the 150 countries it analysed, up from 14% in the previous quarter.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in a basket of internationally traded commodities, averaged 136 points in September, the highest reading since November 2022.

Rising prices heighten the risk of social unrest and could prompt governments that are key suppliers to impose export bans, further exacerbating shortages.

Multiple supply shocks

Attacks on Black Sea grain infrastructure have disrupted wheat shipments, forcing top importers Egypt and Indonesia to seek alternative supplies, while Red Sea insecurity diverts vessels onto longer, costlier routes around Africa.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has raised fuel prices and disrupted fertilizer exports through the Strait of Hormuz, driving up farming costs even as dry El Nino weather reduces output in India and Southeast Asia.

Wheat prices are up more than 30% in 2026, while rice prices in key Asian exporting countries have risen 10% to 13% in spite of ⁠large inventories. ⁠Fertilizer prices are off the peaks reached earlier in the Iran war, but they remain elevated.

“Rising inflation, particularly food inflation, is a reality,” said Manish Tiwary, chair and managing director of Nestle India, citing “a challenging environment” that is due in part to higher commodity costs.

In Egypt, prices of unsubsidized bread have risen to around 5 Egyptian pounds ($0.093) for a big loaf from 4 pounds in July, while the price of cooking oil has climbed about 40% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Vegetable oil in Indonesia has jumped 7% this year, even though the country is the world’s biggest palm oil producer.

Prices of sugar, onions and pulses in India jumped more than 10% in September from a month earlier due to production shortfalls.

For baker Sayed Abdel Hamid Mohamed in downtown Cairo, it is not just the price of flour.

“If you bring in a skilled worker, it costs you a lot,” he said. “Electricity, water, yeast and the materials we use to produce the loaf of bread for consumers have all risen.”

Tarek Azab, a customer at the bakery, said prices have been continuously rising, “not once, twice, or three times,” in the past few ⁠years.

Freight rates have risen about 50% on some key global routes such as the Black Sea to Southeast Asia as oil prices and war premiums surge.

Inflation catalyst

While food prices have been rising since late 2025, dwindling local supplies and higher commodity costs feeding through to consumers threaten to accelerate inflation.

Key importers in the Middle East and Africa that held off on buying after strong local harvests now need to return to the world’s markets, potentially triggering a ​surge in demand.

“In a couple of months, there could be a significant new wave of demand as importers return to the market,” said Alexander Karavaytsev, a senior economist at the International Grains Council ​in London.

The cushion from record global grain inventories is wearing thin, the FAO’s Torero said.

“Stocks and good harvests in previous seasons have provided a buffer, but those buffers are starting to come under pressure,” he said. “That means commodity price increases could become more pronounced.”

Food processors that typically buy raw materials on three- to six-month contracts are now renewing those deals ⁠at higher prices, with weaker local ‌currencies magnifying the ‌costs.

“Shipping costs have also increased and when converted into rupiah, the impact is amplified by the weakening of the Indonesian currency,” said ⁠Franciscus Welirang, a director of PT Indofood, the country’s largest food company.

On top of higher prices, food processors are experiencing difficulties ‌in securing supplies, traders said.

Several wheat millers in Indonesia are running their units below capacity as the Russia-Ukraine war has reduced cargo arrivals, said a senior executive at a flour milling company in Jakarta who did not want to be named ​as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Indonesian wheat ⁠arrivals dropped 41% to 491,000 metric tons in September from a year earlier, Kpler data showed.

For now, soybean and corn inventories are ample, ⁠with future supplies hinging on production in the U.S. and South America, although higher oil prices have supported both crops because of their growing use in biofuels.

Favorable Southern Hemisphere wheat harvests are ⁠expected, and any downside risk to output in exporters ​like Australia and Argentina could add a new bullish element to prices, the IGC’s Karavaytsev said.

“There is significant upside risk in prices,” he said.