BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 5. Turkmenistan has commissioned a 44-kilometer section of the Turkmenbashi-Garabogaz-Kazakhstan highway, which forms part of the international North-South transport corridor, the press service of the Turkmen government reported.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, who gave his approval for the opening of the road section via a live video link, said the new infrastructure would become an important link in international transport routes.
“Last year, the foundation stone for the Turkmenbashi-Garabogaz-Kazakhstan border highway was laid. Today, we are commissioning its 44-kilometer section, from Garabogaz to the border zone. This road infrastructure, part of the international North-South transport corridor, will become a key link in internationally significant transport routes,” he said.
For reference, the Turkmenbashi-Garabogaz-Kazakhstan highway is designed to provide a direct road connection between Turkmenistan’s Caspian coast and western Kazakhstan. The route runs from Turkmenbashi through Garabogaz to the Temir-Baba border crossing. The 207-kilometer Turkmenbashi-Garabogaz section is being built as a four-lane road, while the 44-kilometer Garabogaz-border section has now been commissioned. The project also includes a new bridge across Garabogaz Bay, replacing an older crossing and improving the road connection to the Kazakh border.
On the Kazakh side, the road leads into Mangystau Region, whose administrative center is Aktau. One of the important destinations in this region is Zhanaozen, an industrial center linked to the oil and gas sector. Kazakhstan has also been upgrading the road connecting Zhanaozen with the Turkmen border, with the Temir-Baba crossing serving as a key point on the route. Further north, the connection provides access to Aktau and the port of Kuryk, located about 50 kilometers south of Aktau. Both ports are important components of Kazakhstan’s Caspian transport infrastructure, linking road and rail networks with maritime freight services.
The highway is presented by Turkmenistan as part of the North-South International Transport Corridor, a multimodal network intended to connect Russia with Iran and destinations further south. Its eastern route runs through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan towards Iran, providing opportunities to move cargo onward to Pakistan and India. In August 2024, the governments of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan discussed coordinated development of this direction, including measures to improve logistics and create more competitive transport tariffs. The new road connection adds a direct land link between the two countries to this wider network.
For Turkmenistan, the highway’s significance therefore extends beyond access to the immediate border area. It creates a more direct connection with Mangystau’s industrial centers and the Aktau-Kuryk port infrastructure, potentially facilitating trade, freight movement and passenger transport between the two countries. It also strengthens the road component of a corridor that relies on the coordination of several transport modes and national networks to carry goods between Central Asia, the Caspian region and markets further south.
