Turkey against Int’l Anti-Iran Sanctions

12 August 2014 | 16:14 Code : 1936998 Latest Headlines

(Tasnim) – Turkey’s trade and industry minister said his country opposes international US-led sanctions which have been imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran over the years.

“Turkey is against international embargoes imposed on Iran,” said Fikri Işık during his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, adding that the cooperation between the two countries is vital to activate the Islamic world’s potential.

“We are intending to boost trade volume between the two countries to $30 billion from $15 billion", Işık underscored during his Friday meeting with Nematzadeh which was held to discuss bilateral trade relations and pave the way for greater economic cooperation in the region.

The Turkish minister reiterated that Ankara attaches great importance to the establishment of a common Organized Industrial Zones (OIZs) on Turkey-Iran border, reported Turkish Daily Sabah.

He added that the commercial relations with Tehran “remained unsatisfactory” in recent years due to heavy sanctions imposed on Iran, expressing the hope that the commercial ties would reach the desired level soon.

Iran’s Minister of Industries, Mines and Commerce Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, for his part, touched upon the presence of 750 OIZs in Iran, underlining that the Islamic Republic is willing to make use of Turkey's experiences on OIZs through a common committee.

The volume of trade between Iran and Turkey during the first six months of 2014 dropped by 21 percent compared to last year, which stood at $8.263 billion.

According to the data, Turkish exports to Iran during the first half of 2014 have witnessed a 42.5 percent decrease compared to the same period last year, reaching $1.453 billion.

Turkish imports from Iran during the mentioned period dropped by 11.8 percent amounting to $5.061 billion, compared to the same period in 2013.

According to data released by Turkish Statistical Institute, Iran was the sixth biggest importer of Turkish goods and the eleventh major exporter during the first six months of 2014.