Erdogan Declares Turkiye a Strategic 'Playmaker' at NSC; ADB Approves $750M Rail Loan
Erdogan chaired the first National Security Conference in Ankara, declaring Turkiye now 'writes its own stories' as a regional playmaker through executive-presidency reforms and cross-border military operations in Iraq and Syria. The Asian Development Bank approved $750 million for INRAIL -- a 127-kilometre electrified rail bypass linking Istanbul's airports to the national network and connecting Europe to Asia; the World Bank had already approved $2 billion in March for the $8.27 billion project. Turkey and Saudi Arabia signed rail and logistics cooperation MoUs in Riyadh.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired the inaugural National Security Conference at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on June 9, an event he established to align the views of administrators and institutions on national security. Erdogan described a fundamental shift in Turkiye's strategic posture: cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria 'shattered the glass ceiling' of depending on foreign instructions or weapons, and the executive presidency system inaugurated in 2018 accelerated decision-making in security crises. 'Turkiye is no longer a country delivered a role in scenarios of others,' Erdogan said. 'It is now a country writing its own stories, a playmaker in its region.'
Erdogan framed the ongoing 'terror-free Turkiye' initiative as a strategic vision extending beyond security policy, citing more than 40 years of counterterrorism operations against the PKK and the 2016 coup attempt by military infiltrators as the moment that reoriented Turkiye's security paradigm. He also identified cyberattacks and artificial intelligence as falling within national security scope: 'On battlefields, software plays as decisive a role as tanks and missiles.' The conference followed Erdogan's use of Turkiye's NATO summit hosting on June 5 to project regional influence before a Western audience.
The Asian Development Bank approved a 645.8-million-euro ($750 million) loan on June 9 for the Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project, known as INRAIL -- a 127-kilometre electrified railway designed to bypass the Istanbul metropolitan area and provide a high-capacity overland link connecting Europe and Asia. The project will connect two major Istanbul airports to the national rail network, relieving freight and passenger bottlenecks through a city of 16 million. Total project cost is estimated at $8.27 billion; the World Bank had approved $2 billion in financing in March. INRAIL is the largest transport infrastructure project in Turkish history and one of the most significant rail investments in the region.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu signed two memorandums of understanding with Saudi Minister of Transport Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser in Riyadh on June 9, covering rail sector cooperation and logistics services. Uraloğlu said ensuring 'uninterrupted trade and logistics flows' had become critical amid regional tensions, pointing to the disruption of Red Sea shipping routes during the Iran war as a driver of renewed interest in overland corridors linking Turkiye and the Arabian Peninsula.