Turkey-Iraq trade volume to leap this year: Envoy

By Muyad al-Tarafi

BAGHDAD (AA) – The trade volume between Turkey and Iraq will reach a record $10 billion this year, the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad said Wednesday.

"This year’s trade volume will see a major leap,” Fatih Yildiz told Anadolu Agency.

He said both countries were trying to take their trade exchange to the 2013 figures, when their trade volume registered $16.7 billion.

Trade exchange between Iraq and Turkey declined in recent years after the Daesh terrorist group captured almost a third of Iraqi territory in 2014 and Iraq’s low oil revenues.

In August, Iraqi President Fuad Masum called for the participation of Turkish companies in the reconstructing of Iraqi territories recaptured from Daesh.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, meanwhile, said Ankara would play a major role in assisting the rebuilding of Iraqi lands seized from Daesh.