Nargiza Umarova’s policy brief examines how Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are increasingly positioning themselves as a joint transport and transit hub linking Central Asia with Iran, the Middle East, and Europe. It highlights Turkmenistan’s pivotal geographical role in connecting Central Asian states to the “warm seas” and underscores the significance of key rail routes such as the Tejen–Serakhs–Mashhad line, which first opened access for Uzbek exporters to global markets via Iran’s Bandar Abbas port. The brief also stresses Tashkent’s growing interest in the Chabahar deep-water port and the broader International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), where Turkmenistan benefits from the Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran railway as a core north–south axis.
A major focus is placed on emerging multimodal corridors that reinforce this Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan tandem. The Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Iran–Türkiye route, on which the first freight train travelled from Tashkent in December 2022, is presented as a promising land bridge to Europe, further consolidated by a 2023 protocol among the four participating states. At the same time, China-supported routes – including China–Kazakhstan–Turkmenistan–Iran–Türkiye and China–Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan–Turkmenistan–Iran–Türkiye – demonstrate Beijing’s interest in diversifying westward supply chains. The policy brief argues that the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, now under construction, could significantly reconfigure these flows in favour of Tashkent and Bishkek, while Tajikistan’s ambition to connect via new highways will deepen the region’s role in Eurasian connectivity.
The brief pays special attention to Turkmenistan’s modern port infrastructure, particularly the Turkmenbashi port on the Caspian Sea, which is integral to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), or Middle Corridor. Against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and disruptions to key maritime chokepoints such as the Suez Canal and the Strait of Malacca, the author notes a gradual reorientation of some cargo flows from sea to land. In this context, growing freight volumes along the Middle Corridor – projected by the World Bank to more than double by 2030 – create new opportunities for Uzbekistan, including potential annual transit of up to 1.3 million tons of its cargo to Europe via trans-Caspian routes through Turkmenbashi.
Finally, the brief analyses Uzbekistan’s proactive use of transport diplomacy to institutionalise these connectivity initiatives. It emphasises Tashkent’s role in launching the CASCA+ (Central Asia–South Caucasus–Anatolia) corridor, designed to leverage the combined railway and maritime infrastructure of Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Türkiye. The recent decision to establish a CASCA+ consortium and to develop a unified digital transport platform, discussed at a ministerial meeting in Tashkent in November 2025, is presented as a key step toward improving logistics efficiency and strengthening the competitive position of Central Asian and South Caucasian states. Overall, the policy brief portrays Uzbekistan as a consistent advocate of regional interconnectivity, using close cooperation with Turkmenistan to build a joint transport and transit “tandem” that supports both economic diversification and broader regional consolidation.
* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.
