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Turkey and Iran Open 3rd Border Crossing, Increase Trade
Davutoglu inaugurated the new crossing at Kapikoy in eastern Turkey's Van province with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi, and said a fourth would open in June at Esendere in the southeast. A fifth would follow at Dilucu in northeast Turkey, Davutoglu said, without giving a date. "Our prime minister has set a target of 30 billion dollars" in annual trade with Iran, Anatolia quoted him as saying. "That is why we are opening this border crossing." "Currently Iran-Turkey trade stands at 11 billion dollars annually and we are trying to hike it to 30 billion dollars," Salehi said. Relations between the two neighbors have blossomed since the conservative Islamic-based government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2002. Erdogan determined to triple the value of their bilateral trade -- which at present consists mainly of sales of Iranian gas to Turkey -- by 2015. Turkey has reluctantly agreed to implement economic sanctions against Iran approved by the United Nations Security Council because of Tehran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at weapons development. The joint border runs for 499 kilometers.(AFP) Posted by: trailing wife 2011-04-17 |
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