Trade ties between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government should not be affected by the recent independence referendum, Turkey's Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said.
Zeybekci stressed that the cabinet did not take any decisions to impose sanctions on the KRG in its last meeting on Sept. 22, saying that talking about “economic embargos” are dangerous for a country like Turkey that wants to become a regional hub of finance and trade.
“When our national interests oblige us to do otherwise, then we as the Economy Ministry will act accordingly. But our current reflex as a ministry is to make sure that our trade continues with ‘business as usual.’ There was no decision taken at the last cabinet meeting to change this view of ours [regarding trade with the KRG],” the Hürriyet Daily News cited him as saying.
The economy minister noted that the trade volume between Turkey and Iraq is currently around $8 billion, $2.5 billion of which is with northern Iraq.
