ISTANBUL 

The direct road transport between Türkiye and Syria restarted after a 13-year pause, Türkiye's transport minister announced on Friday.

"After a 13-year hiatus, direct international road transport between Türkiye and Syria has resumed. Yesterday, four trucks passed through the Cilvegozu Border Gate, traveling from Mersin to Aleppo, and three trucks from Idlib to Mersin," Abdulkadir Uraloglu said in a statement.

He noted that the road transport between the two countries has been carried out in transit for "some time."

Uraloglu stated that transportation operations in Syria came to a complete halt due to the civil unrest that began in 2011. For years, cargo at the border crossing had been transported through transshipment.

The minister explained that they initiated the process to resume transportation following the developments in that country in December 2024, and announced that they signed a memorandum of understanding with Syria on road transportation at the Global Transport Corridors Forum held in Istanbul on June 27-29.

He noted that a technical meeting was held at the Cilvegozu Border Gate on July 9 to determine the conditions for passage and that they have now initiated this process in the field.  

'Transportation to Jordan, Saudi Arabia to become faster, more economical'

Uraloglu noted that with the resumption of transportation, vehicles with Turkish and Syrian license plates will now reach their destinations directly, eliminating the need to transfer cargo at the border.

"Comparing August 2024 to August 2025, there was a 50% increase in our transportation to Syria. This trend will continue to increase. With the reopening of the Syria route, transportation from cities like Hatay, Gaziantep, and Mersin to Jordan and Saudi Arabia will become faster. This step will invigorate not only our exporters but also the regional economy," he added.

The decision comes in the wake of the collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime last December.

Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia in December, ending the Ba'ath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963. A new transitional administration led by Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January.