Turkish businesspeople looking for post-sanction opportunities

Erdinç Çelikkan - ANKARA

AFP Photo

A group of Turkish businesspeople are set to head to Iran to seek emerging opportunities in the eastern neighbor on the eve of the abolition of Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program. 

The plans to boost economic ties with Iran comes at a time when the relations between the two countries are tense due to the Islamic republic’s concerns over the safety of trucks going to Turkey, which have been targeted by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in eastern Turkey. 

The 25-member team from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) will consist of representatives from many sectors, including the automotive, construction goods, electronics, textile, food, cosmetics and furniture industries.

The team will pay a visit to Iran’s Tabriz in the fall. 

TİM said in a letter to industrial chambers that other sectors could be included on the list. 

The Ankara Chamber of Industry will also send a team to Tehran to meet with its counterparts in Tehran as part of a protocol signed in 2009. The agenda will focus on the development of ties in a post-sanctions era. 

Turkey’s Güncel Bağımsız Denetim Danışmanlık, an independent auditing firm, will conduct a meeting with Iran Industrial Management in Tehran on Oct. 8 and 9.  

At the meeting, businesspeople will be informed about several issues such as foreign investment and branch-opening conditions, work permits and banking rules. 

Iran has expressed its concerns to Turkey’s ambassador over a recent spate of attacks on its citizens in the neighboring country, news media reported Aug. 20.

Nine Iranian trucks and a bus have been attacked or torched in Turkey since late July, Tabnak news agency quoted a transport official as saying on Aug. 18.

In one of the attacks, none of which have been claimed, an Iranian was reportedly killed.

The Turkish ambassador to Tehran, Rıza Hakan Tekin, received a note from the ministry urging Ankara “to identify those involved, compensate the victims and take more measures to prevent such attacks,” an IRNA report said last week.  

Iran struck a deal July 14 with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States, ending a 13-year stand-off over its nuclear program.