ANKARA - Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Thursday, ''we respect decisions made by non-governmental organizations, but we are determined to maintain commercial relations with Iraq.''
Tuzmen met Labor and Infrastructure Minister Muhammad Matuk Muhammad of Libya prior to the 19th term meeting of Turkey-Libya Joint Economic Commission (JEC).
Replying questions of journalists about decision made by International Transporters' Association (UND), following killing of Turkish truck driver Murat Yuce by a group linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Tuzmen said, ''we respect decisions made by non-governmental organizations, but we have to maintain our commercial relations with all our neighbors, including Iraq.''
''For us the most important issue is people's safety. We are therefore taking measures to reduce risks to the lowest possible level and are making the necessary contacts,'' he said.
Tuzmen told reporters that goods would be transported in future from Turkey to a secure place in Iraq where they could be stored until Iraqi drivers could deliver them to their final destinations.
Earlier, UND made public its decision to stop ferrying goods to U.S. forces in Iraq because of the lack of law and order in the region after Turkish driver Murat Yuce was shot dead by militants in Iraq.
Noting that there had been about a 5 percent drop in the number of trucks going to Iraq since the killing of Turkish driver, Tuzmen stressed that Turkey targeted to increase its exports to Iraq up to 1.8 billion U.S. dollars by the end of the year.
Referring to economic and commercial relations between Turkey and Libya, Tuzmen said, ''the latest JEC meeting between Turkey and Libya was held in 1996. It is a quite long period. Now, we want to further improve our economic and commercial relations with Libya without any interruption.''
(UK-ULG) 05.08.2004