Turkey targets $30 billion trade volume with Iraq, minister says

ANKARA, Turkey — Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said on Tuesday that Turkey and Iraq are aiming to raise their bilateral trade volume to $30 billion in the medium term, up from a current level of roughly $17 billion that has already climbed to about $24 billion since the post-COVID period due to higher energy prices. Speaking at a Turkish-Iraqi business roundtable in Ankara, Bolat said recent geopolitical developments have increased the importance of operating the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline at full capacity, building a new Basra-Ceyhan pipeline, and advancing the Development Road project linking Iraq's Faylimani port to Europe. Bolat noted that Iraq is Turkey's fifth-largest trading partner and that Turkish contractors have completed more than 1,150 projects in Iraq valued at nearly $40 billion. Nail Olpak, head of Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), said the formation of a new Iraqi government would create a more favorable ground for economic cooperation, adding that simplified customs procedures and multi-entry business visas are critical for the private sector. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani arrived in Ankara on Tuesday with an official delegation for a formal visit and held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.