Turkey wants Israel to buy military equipment says Israel's Commercial Attache in Ankara Doron Avrahami at the Israel-Turkey Joint Economic Commission meeting in Ankara, where Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer is visiting.
Avrahami said, "Israel's defense industries sell systems and equipment to Turkey, and the Turks believe that we should buy equipment from them."
Avrahami added that this was not the first time that Turkey has raised this demand. "I believe that the appropriate institutions in Israel will deal with the request," he said.
Avrahami also noted the decline in bilateral trade in 2009, which he attributed solely to the global economic crisis. "The Turkish economy is oriented to emerging markets, such as Russia and the Balkans. As an export-oriented economy, it was badly battered, and is emerging only slowly from the crisis. For this reason, Israeli exports were affected. We export to manufacturing and industrial sectors," he said.
Avrahami said, "The Turks see the great potential in Israeli-Turkish trade. The balance of trade is in their favor, after all. Imports are greater than Israeli exports, and we add visits by Israeli tourists, the commercial gap is wide. The Turks consider the free-trade agreement on which its relations with Israel are based to be the most successful agreement Turkey has with any country."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 24, 2009
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