Iraqi, Turkish trade to be raised

The Iraqi minister of trade Muhammad Mahdi Saleh said on Monday that Iraq and Turkey are seeking to raise the volume of their trade relations to reach the level it has already reached before imposing the embargo on Iraq in 1990.

In statements he made following the inauguration of the third specialized exhibition for Turkish products at Baghdad's international Fair, the Iraqi minister said that the sanctions has damaged both Iraq and Turkey simultaneously, noting that the Turkish companies will have after lifting the embargo a remarkable position in the Iraqi market.

He added that the exhibition aims at expanding bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the economic and commercial areas, noting that this will have reflections on other areas.

Worthy mentioning that Turkey, Iraq's northern neighbor, is one of the countries most hurt from the economic sanctions imposed on the UN security Council on Iraq, as figures indicate that the Turkish losses because of the recession in its trade with Iraq exceeded $ 35 billion during the past ten years.