Turkey seeking to boost Iran trade after nuclear deal

Ankara is eager to reignite economic ties after losing billions in trade revenue due to sanctions on Tehran.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Iran FM Zarif and Turkish FM Davutoglu 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Umit Bektas )
Iran FM Zarif and Turkish FM Davutoglu 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Umit Bektas )
Turkey hopes to increase trade with Iran following the deal reached between Iran and world powers last weekend that eases some of the sanctions in exchange for a curb on the country’s nuclear program.
Turkey lost billions in trade revenue because of the sanctions and is eager to reignite economic ties.
“I hope that Turkey will be able to export all its goods to Iran once again, after the easing of sanctions,” said Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan on Monday according to a report in the Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman.
Caglayan said that because of the sanctions on Iran, Turkey lost $6 billion during the first nine months of this year compared to last year.
According to Turkey’s Economy Ministry, Iran was the third highest export market last year and in the first nine months of this year exports to Iran were only $3.4 billion, said Caglayan.
The other hope is that turkey would be able to increase crude oil imports, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told a local TV station, according to the report.
“Even if it were not possible to match the previous levels of imports, I believe our purchases could go up to 130,000 or 140,000 barrels per day,” he said.