introduction
Türkiye Trade , In the world of trade Turkey enjoys a unique geographical location
which gives it an unrivaled position as a strategic point and line in the world of global trade.
This country is located at the intersection of the continents of Europe and Asia, making it a natural bridge between East and West.
Through its strategic location on the Bosphorus Strait,
Turkey occupies a vital center on the maritime trade routes between the Black Sea
and the Mediterranean and between East and West.
For centuries, Türkiye Trade was the key to the caravan trade plying the Silk and Spice Roads linking East and West.
Even today, Turkey continues to strengthen its role as a global commercial center
thanks to its availability of advanced infrastructure and modern seaports serving a wide network of global destinations.
The prominent role that Türkiye plays in the fields of import and export cannot be overlooked.
Thanks to its strategic presence,
Türkiye is a vital bridge for the exchange of goods and merchandise between many countries and regions.
Türkiye Trade occupies a prominent position in the global export market,
offering a wide range of products ranging from traditional industries such as textiles and clothing,
to modern industries such as electronics and automobiles.
Water straits
Russian lawyer Friedrich De Martens says that the “Turkish Straits” define the region consisting of the Bosphorus Strait,
the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. Its length covers 164 nautical miles, two straits and an inland sea.
The strategic importance of the strait as the only waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean is indisputable.
The Turkish Straits also play an important role in the economies of the Black Sea coastal states.
Another feature of the Turkish Straits is that it is one of the most challenging waterways in the world.
This is due to the need to change course 11 times to pass through the Dardanelles Strait
and 12 times to cross the Bosphorus Strait.
The two straits are likely to be the shortest land distance to “international waters”, especially the Bosphorus.
and the key for why Türkiye Trade line is so important
Bosphorus Strait
The Bosphorus Strait passes through the city of Istanbul,
which has a population of 18 million people, and its history goes back 3,000 years.
Strong currents, sharp turns and variable weather conditions in the Bosphorus Strait can make navigation very difficult
which clearly determines the cause of accidents.
There are two main streams in the Bosphorus Strait:
The first is surface runoff, and the second is undercurrent,
which starts 15 meters below the surface and can be effective up to 45 meters deep.
While the surface flow is usually from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara,
the underflow is from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea.
According to meteorological data, the number of stormy days in the Bosphorus Strait reaches 25 days annually.
The windiest month is December. January and February are also windy months.
There are sharp turns of up to 80 degrees in the Bosphorus.
Convert to an 80 degree rotation at the Yenikoy point.
The south-north axis, which has an angle of about 22 degrees to the north,
has 11 more revolutions than the Yenikoy rotation of 80 degrees.
The length of the Bosphorus Strait is 18 nautical miles, or about 33 kilometers.
The width of the Bosphorus Strait is 700 meters between Asean-Kandilli,
which is its narrowest part, and about 3,500 meters in Büyükdere.
The width of the bridge between the First Bridge and Kanlica,
which is considered the narrowest area of the Bosphorus Strait, is about one kilometer.
As for depth; The depth of the Bosphorus Strait is 60 meters, and its deepest is 110 meters in front of “Kandilli”.
In the Bosphorus Strait, the depth increases from south to north.
About 48,000 ships pass through this strait annually,
three times more traffic than the Suez Canal and four times more than the Panama Canal.
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara is an inland sea. Its deepest place is 1258 m in the middle crater of Marmara Ereglisi.
In the north, there are three deep depressions towards the east and west, with a depth of 1,100 metres,
1,390 metres, and 1,240 metres, respectively. In ancient times its name was Propontis.
In the middle of the Sea of Marmara in the Turkish Straits, traffic separation lines pass.
The traffic dividing line within the Sea of Marmara extends from the Ahirkabey Lighthouse
on the Istanbul side to the Gelibolu Lighthouse on the Dardanelles side.
This strip is about 115 nautical miles (about 213 kilometers) long.
Dardanelles Strait
Dardanelles. It is less indented than the Bosphorus.
Its length is twice the length of the Istanbul Strait.
Here the deepest place, as in the Bosphorus, and at the same time the narrowest place is between Kelitbahir and Çanakkale.
The width is 1400 meters and the depth is 109 metres
Dardanelles and Bosphorus Sea lanes in the Turkish Straits Dardanelles.
It is less indented than the Bosphorus. Its length is twice the length of the Istanbul Strait.
Here the deepest place, as in the Bosphorus, and at the same time the narrowest place is between Kelitbahir and Çanakkale.
The width is 1400 meters and the depth is 109 metres.
The length of the Dardanelles is 37 nautical miles.
So, the deepest place is almost the same depth as the Bosphorus Strait.
There is a 40-50 cm difference between the Marmara side and the Aegean side of the Dardanelles Strait.
Because of this difference, the waters of Marmara flow into the Aegean Sea.
The downflow is formed by the density difference and vice versa; However,
the speed and flow rate of the underflow are only one-third of the surface current.
The prevailing winds during the summer months in the Dardanelles are northerly winds.
Strong northeasterly winds continue until mid-September.
Therefore, crossing the Dardanelles in summer is quite a challenge.
numbers
In 2023, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced.
That there were 83,892 ships that crossed the Turkish Straits, 39,000 through the Bosphorus Strait,
and 44,892 ships through the Dardanelles Strait.
Oraloglu also noted that global maritime trade grew by 3%, and that in 2024,
maritime trade is expected to grow by another 2.1% to 12.636 billion tons.
“Given that many ports are closed due to the war on the Black Sea,
and those that are open are not operating at full capacity,
we believe that the increase in the number of ships crossing the Turkish Straits
will lead to an increase in ship traffic congestion.
Turkish exports
On Tuesday of 2023, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that
The most important Turkish exports were cars, tractors, trucks and their parts.
($2.86 billion), machinery, mechanical devices and spare parts ($1.9 billion),
precious stones, metals and pearls ($1.23 billion), electrical machinery and
electronics ($1.2 billion), and mineral fuels, mineral oils and products($988 million).
Most of Turkish exports were to Germany ($1.51 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.15 billion),
the United States ($1.1 billion), Iraq ($1.08 billion), and Italy ($938 million),
and most of them were imported from Russia ($4.04 billion)
China ($3.31 billion), Germany ($2.26 billion), rest of the world ($2.21 billion), and Italy ($1.26 billion).
in conclusion
Türkiye Trade, with its sea straits, is considered a very important gathering and transit point,
and it may be the most important, because it reduces distances greatly,
which increases speed, and in turn increases the volume of international import and export,
to what leads to an increase in the economy. Which is in everyone’s interests
