Turkish State Minister Tuzmen due to Iran

Prior to scheduled visit of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Iran on July 27, Tuzmen will leave for Iranian capital Tehran on Monday to attend the 18th term meeting of Turkey-Iran Joint Economic Commission.

Tuzmen is expected to return to Turkey on July 29 together with Prime Minister Erdogan.

In an interview with the A.A, Tuzmen said that the trade volume between the two countries increased 91 percent to 2.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2003.

"Our exports to Iran rose by 45 percent in the first half of 2004. We aim to set up lasting and comprehensive economic relations with Iran and to increase trade volume between Turkey and Iran up to 10 billion U.S. dollars in medium term by liberalizing the trade of goods and services as much as we can," he added.