ANKARA, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Turkey is contemplating opening new border crossings with japanese neighbour Iran, President Tayyip Erdogan mentioned late on Wednesday after talks along with his Iranian counterpart, as they search to revive sagging financial relations.
Erdogan, talking at a Turkish-Iranian enterprise council assembly alongside Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, blamed worldwide sanctions on Tehran and the COVID pandemic for a decline in commerce volumes.
Trade between Turkey and Iran peaked in 2012 at practically $22 billion however has since fallen. It stood at $7.4 billion in 2023, based on Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat, down from round $10 billion a 12 months earlier.
“The subject of opening new border gates with Iran can also be on our agenda. Efforts to ascertain commerce centres in border (areas) to growing the financial improvement of our border provinces proceed,” he mentioned.
Turkey, a NATO ally, and Iran at present have 4 border crossings between them. One of these gates, between the Gurbulak-Bazergan areas, has been underneath development since 2021.
“While we now have left behind the pandemic, the restrictive impact of sanctions lingers,” Erdogan mentioned, including that Turkey wouldn’t minimize its financial ties with Iran due to the worldwide measures.
“In the present state, sanctions are inflicting issues in our enterprise ties with Iran, particularly points brought on by the banking system,” Erdogan mentioned.
Full implementation of a preferential commerce settlement between Ankara and Tehran is the easiest way to enhance industrial ties, he added.
Erdogan mentioned he anticipated Raisi’s help in guaranteeing that obstacles to Turkish corporations’ operations in Iran, similar to gas worth points and frequency limits for airways, have been resolved, including that Ankara would then encourage corporations to speculate extra in Iran with a “win-win understanding”.
Iran’s economic system has been crippled by the sanctions, imposed over its nuclear programme. Tehran denies Western assertions that it goals to construct a nuclear weapon.
Turkey, which has additionally been hit with U.S. sanctions for buying Russian defence programs, opposes what it calls unilateral financial sanctions as a coverage.