Iran’s outgoing ambassador to Ankara Bahman Hosseinpour (file photo)
Iran’s outgoing ambassador to Ankara has described Iran and Turkey as two powerful countries in the region, saying their unity can solve many regional problems.
“Iran and Turkey can solve many regional problems through unity…but some countries are trying to prevent this,” Bahman Hosseinpour said in a ceremony on Saturday.
Reflecting on mutual economic ties, Hosseinpour said the expansion of economic relations between the two countries can contribute to further development of Tehran-Ankara cooperation in different areas.
The outgoing Iranian ambassador also stated that over the past five years, the volume of trade between the two countries has increased from USD5 billion to USD23 billion.
Iran and Turkey have sharply increased their trade ties over the past years.
The value of the Iran-Turkey trade exceeded USD16 billion in 2011 and surpassed USD22 billion by the end of 2012.
According to official data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute in November 2012, Iran was the third major trade partner of Turkey in the first three quarters of 2012.
Turkey’s imports from Iran hit their highest monthly total in March 2012 at over USD1.63 billion.
Meanwhile, the highest monthly exports from Turkey to Iran were recorded in July 2012 at more than USD2.15 billion.
The two countries plan to increase the level of their bilateral trade volume to USD30 billion by 2015.
AR/SS/SL
via PressTV – Iran, Turkey unity can solve many regional problems: Envoy.