Turkish Cabinet to approve suspension of free trade agreement with Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's customs and trade minister says the Cabinet is expected to approve the suspension of a free trade agreement with Syria in retaliation for a similar move by Damascus.

Hayati Yazici said Friday, December 9, that Syria has unilaterally suspended the 2008 agreement, which wiped out taxes on most goods. Authorities say the suspension of the deal will lead to taxes of up to 30 percent on some goods.

Yazici also says Turkey is planning to encourage trucks to favor Iraqi and Jordanian routes for delivering goods to the Middle East because of deteriorating relations with neighboring Syria over its crackdown on the country's nine-month old uprising.

He says cargo ships are also planned to bypass Syria, running between Turkey's Mediterranean port of Iskenderun and some Red Sea ports in line with sanctions against Syria, The Associated Press reported.