Tuzmen: Syria Decreased Passage Fees Between 50 To 1,200 Percent

ANKARA - State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Tuesday that the negotiations, which had been carried on with Syrian officials for more than one year, were completed positively and added, ''Syria decreased the passage fee which was taken from Turkish vehicles between 50 to 1,200 percent.''
Issuing a written statement, Tuzmen said that the high passage fees of Syria caused difficulty for businessmen, who made export both to Syria and to regional countries via Syria, and for this reason they brought the issue onto the agenda with Syrian Prime Minister Mustafa Miro, Foreign Trade and Economy Ministry and Transportation Ministry and they requested the passage fees to be decreased.
Noting that after long negotiations, Syrian government decreased the passage fees and conveyed this decision to him, Tuzmen said, ''this reduction will increase Turkey's export to Syria and other regional countries. Transit transportation which is made via Syria will develop. Both Turkey and Syria will gain from this. The reduction of the fee from 340 U.S. dollars to 45 U.S. dollars, which is taken for passages to Iraq via Syria, will significantly drop down the cost of export that we make to Iraq. This is an important advantage for our export. The decision of Syria will affect trade relations between Turkey and Syria positively.''
(GC-AÖ) 09.09.2003