Silk Road Peace Rally Crosses Into Georgia After 4,000 km Türkiye Stage

By Bosphorus News Life Desk 

The East-West Friendship and Silk Road Rally crossed from Türkiye into Georgia on May 10, passing through the Çıldır-Aktaş border gate in Ardahan province. The convoy reached Tbilisi the following day, where Türkiye's Ambassador to Georgia, Mustafa Türker Arı, received the group at an official ceremony. The ambassador described the rally as a project that reinforces cultural ties between countries along the route.

The convoy departed Tbilisi for Baku on May 12.

20th Edition, Germany to Nepal

Now in its 20th edition, the rally left Germany on 27 April with the support of Türkiye's Foreign Ministry EU Directorate, the Tourism Promotion and Development Agency, and TÜVTÜRK. Participants entered Türkiye at the Kapıkule border crossing and covered approximately 4,000 kilometres before leaving the country.

The full route runs through 19 countries and 64 cities, covering roughly 19,000 kilometres in total. The final destination is Nepal. The journey is expected to last about six weeks.

Türkiye Stage

The convoy passed through Aksaray, where the provincial governor gave the start for that leg of the route. It then moved through Erzurum, Kars, and Ardahan. In Erzurum, participants drove up to the ski slopes of Palandöken and planted national flags in the snow. In Kars, the group visited the ruins of Ani, the medieval city on the Turkish-Armenian border. At Çıldır, the convoy stopped for a meal before proceeding to the border.

Doğu-Batı Dostluk ve Barış Rallisi Derneği President Nadir Serin said poor weather forced cancellations along parts of the Turkish route. "We had snow and rain for two weeks. Many planned events had to be called off," he said. Serin described the participants as "voluntary ambassadors" for the regions they pass through.

A participant from Ardahan, Hasan Murat Özkasım, said: "Seeing this part of Türkiye is a great honour. The friendship and hospitality shown to us was extraordinary."

Route Ahead

From Baku, the convoy will move east through Türkmenistan, Özbekistan, Kazakistan, Çin, Kırgızistan, and Tacikistan before reaching Nepal.

Georgia sits on what regional governments and logistics operators now call the Middle Corridor, the overland trade route linking China to the European Union through the South Caucasus. Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan established a joint railway company in 2023 to develop freight capacity on the route. The rally's path through Tbilisi and Baku runs along the same geography.