MESOP LATEST : Turkey – Iraq Trade Relations Halted

14.06.2014 – Mewan Dolamari – BasNews, Erbil – Following the instability in Nineveh province, almost 3,000 Turkish trade trucks have stopped in Zakho, in Duhok Province in Iraqi Kurdistan.Administrator of Turkey’s Transportation Ergun Bilen told Anadolu Agency that due to the instability in the mid and southern provinces of Iraq, almost 3,000 trucks full of goods have stopped in Zakho that are responsible for transporting goods and products to the mid and southern provinces of Iraq.

“These trucks should have been gone to Baghdad, but due to the instability in Mosul and Tikrit, they have been stopped in Zakho, despite the fact that some of the goods and products will be negatively affected due to the delay,” said Bilen. He pointed out that after Germany, Iraq comes second for Turkey in terms of trade relations. “If the instability continues like this, there will be a negative impact on trade relations between Turkey and Iraq,” added Bilen. On the first day of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) terrorist group’s arrival to Nineveh Province, 28 truck drivers of Turkish-Kurdish origin were arrested by the militants.