Türkiye and Its Strategic Neighbors: A Bridge Between Europe and Asia
This article is part of our multi-country, data-driven research series. It focuses on Türkiye and its strategic neighborhood—Russia, Greece, and Bulgaria—where trade corridors, energy routes, and transport links shape a shared economic space.
Türkiye anchors the region’s connectivity. Istanbul’s ports and airports, together with the Marmaray crossing and upgrades on the European side of the rail network, compress delivery times between Asia and the EU. Gas flows highlight the same logic: TANAP carries Caspian volumes across Türkiye into Greece and onward to Italy via TAP, while TurkStream feeds Southeast Europe through Bulgaria. Growing LNG capacity on the Aegean and Marmara adds flexibility to this energy portfolio.
Neighbors amplify these advantages. Greece’s ports—especially Piraeus and Thessaloniki—serve as maritime gateways into the EU, with the Greece–Bulgaria interconnector strengthening gas security. Bulgaria’s position at the Balkan crossroads ties together pipelines, power grids, and rail routes toward Central Europe. Russia’s role remains pivotal for energy, metals, and grain shipped through Black Sea lanes, redirecting logistics and payment channels and increasing the value of intermediary hubs.
For manufacturers, shippers, and policymakers, the region offers shorter lead times, diversified energy options, and a realistic path to decarbonization via interconnectors, renewables, and storage. This post distills the picture: a corridor economy where Türkiye’s industrial base and its neighbors’ port, pipeline, and rail assets combine to move goods, energy, and data more efficiently between continents.
Closing Note
This article is part of our Regional Market Insights series and draws on our internal dataset. Upcoming posts will cover EU member economies in greater depth, along with downloadable tables and charts.
The complete dataset for this post (Türkiye, Russia, Greece, and Bulgaria) is available for download below.