BAGHDAD (CÝHAN) - Iraqi Interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allavi stated on Friday that his government was waiting for Turkish firms to take a big role in the restructuring of Iraq.
Recalling that Turkey had opened its gates to the Iraqi people forced to leave Iraq in the time of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and that Iraqis would never forgot this generosity, Allavi stated that Turkish firms would claim a big share in the reconstruction of Iraq.
Allavi said that they were also seeking the support of Turkey, "There are a lot of areas for collaboration with Turkey. I will make a visit to Turkey shortly at the invitation of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey will take a big role in the restructuring of Iraq which has suffered badly from war".
Stating that the Iraqi Government had prepared an urgent action plan to ease living conditions and to increase prosperity, Allavi said that unemployment was the most important internal issue facing his government, followed by the delivery of the wages of public workers".
"On the other hand, there are a lot of unemployed Iraqi people. Iraq's infrastructure, damaged by the war, must be rebuilt as soon as possible and there are also serious problems concerning health. Therefore, we have prepared a two-tiered plan. The first tier entails the return of oil export revenues to Iraq, and the second involves the boosting of financial aid to Iraq. Yesterday we met with the American ambassador in Baghdad with a view to increasing financial aid and taking concrete steps." Allavi said.
Turkish exports to Iraq during the first six months of 2004 reached 886 million dollars. Turkish exports had previously broken records in 2001 with 1 billion dollars in the pre-war period.Turkish exports to Iraq are expected to reach between 1.3 and 1.5 billion US dollars by the end of 2004.