Turkey's trade with Iraq to exceed $10 bln

In an interview with A.A correspondent, Aksoy said commercial relations between Turkey and Iraq would revive as of next year. "Trade volume with Iraq will exceed 10 billion U.S. dollars as of 2009, because important tenders will be held," he stated.

Aksoy quoted Iraqi President Jalal Talabani as saying that "a new page" opened in the relations between the two countries and they would extend assistance to Turkish businessmen.

Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen had said Saturday that Turkey targeted a 20 billion USD trade volume with Iraq by the end of the next 2 years. Tuzmen held talks with Iraqi Minister of Oil Husayn al-Shahristani and an accompanying delegation in Ankara. "We expect the bilateral trade volume to reach 6 billion USD in 2008," Tuzmen said during the meeting.

Tuzmen said the "3rd International Iraq Fair", which would be organized jointly with the Iraqi Ministry of Trade, would be held in southeastern province of Gaziantep between May 22nd and 25th, with the participation of Iraqi ministers and high-level bureaucrats. Moreover, Tuzmen said Turkey planned to sign a free trade agreement with Iraq.

''Energy sector was a major element of the strategic cooperation vision between the two countries'', Tuzmen added. ''Development of natural gas sites in Iraq, sale of the natural gas to be produced at those sites to Turkey and transport of such gas to Europe through Turkey were other issues with priority'', Tuzmen said expressing the importance of Kirkuk-Yumurtalik Oil Pipeline within this context.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Minister Shahristani said that Iraq aimed to provide Turkey the oil and natural gas it needed. "We want Turkey to be the transit country for the export of Iraqi oil and natural gas to Europe," he said. Shahristani also invited Turkish entrepreneurs to construct power plants in Iraq. "Turkey, especially through TPIC (Turkish Petroleum International Company Ltd.), can establish oil refineries anywhere it desires in Iraq," he added.