The US Administration said there was no problem in Turkey's trade with Iraq as long as it did not violate UN sanctions, according to Turkish Daily News, citing US Secretary of State Spokesman Richard Boucher as saying at a press conference that the United States and Turkey had been in consultation on these issues, and Turkey could make economic contacts with Iraq without violating the embargo.
The remarks came as a delegation of 400 leading Turkish businessmen are on a visit to Baghdad for trade talks.
The paper quoted Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursad Tuzmen as saying Turkey could increase exports to Iraq from $375 million to $1 billion this year if the necessary steps were taken.
The Turkish foreign trade delegation was headed by Tuzmen and arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday after a difficult journey. It is aiming at developing economic relations between the two countries. The visits was organized by Uludag Exporter's Union and is expected to last five days, said the paper.
Speaking before the start of their official meetings in Baghdad, Tuzmen was quoted as saying they would make great efforts to boost economic ties with Iraq, and they had seen the same efforts from the Iraqi side.
Uludag Exporter's Union Chairman Sevket Ilgat also said Iraq would open new tenders in many fields in the upcoming days, therefore Turkish entrepreneurs should follow the economic developments in Iraq.
Despite Baghdad's complaints about Turkey letting American and British warplanes bomb Iraq and the United States' being lukewarm to Turkey's aim to improve economic ties with Iraq, the trade delegation of 164 people started their Iraqi trip on Tuesday.
It seems that these kind of visits will be helpful for Turkey to overcome the economic crisis by increasing exports to neighboring countries, according to the report.
Iraqi Industry Federation Chairman, Ihsan Abdurrazzak, previously stated in the weekly Al Ittihad that the Turkish delegation's visit to Iraq was very important in terms of developing trade between the two countries. Iraqi industrialists want to improve economic ties with Turkey, Abdurrazzak said before Tuzmen's visit, and another Turkish businessman delegation of 50 people would visit Iraq as well – Albawaba.com
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