Greece should open gates, Turkish chamber says

İZMİR - Anatolia News Agency

İZTO head Ekrem Demirtaş (R) presents a vase to Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek (L) in this file photo. DHA photo

Turkey and Greece should further integrate their economies, the chairman of the İzmir Chamber of Commerce Ekrem Demirtaş has said, supporting Deputy PM Ali Babacan’s recent call for more mutual trade and investment.

“Turkey and Greece … should open borders and invest together,” Demirtaş told Anatolia news agency yesterday.

Babacan’s earlier March 22 statement, which implied that Greece’s sole formula to survive the crisis was to boost investments and trade with Turkey, was right, Demirtaş said. “Greece should stick with heart and soul to Turkey to get out of the crisis,” he said.

The Greek economy was totally oriented towards Europe after becoming an EU member, which resulted in a halt in production, according to Demirtaş. Even tourism, a leading sector, was affected negatively as the country failed to renew its facilities. Today, Greece can write crisis-exit scripts by planning its trade with Turkey, the chairman added.

 “We have told this to our Greek colleagues, businessmen and politicians several times. But as they have yet to lift some mental barriers, they keep turning their backs to us. Turkey has never done this.”
Following the Greek elections in May, the chamber wants to hold the “10th Turkish-Greek Economic Summit” in İzmir in June, Demirtaş also said.

We will discuss economic integration at the summit, which will be attended by the Turkish government and the new prime minister and ministers from Greece, just like the one organized last year in Athens, which was participated in by PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and 12 ministers. We have already reached an agreement on that with the Athens Chamber of Commerce, the Athens Chamber of Merchants and the Greek Tourism Ministry.”