KRG-Turkey trade volume down due to Iraqi checkpoints, tariffs

Border officials at Ibrahim Khalil customs zone report a 17%-decrease in trade between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region.

Truck drivers who used to make two trips across the border a day are now down to one.

Truck drivers crossing the border daily carrying good from Turkey say that the increasing number of check points and tariffs on Iraqi roads has led to the slowdown of trade between the two countries.

Two thirds of all imports from Turkey is destined for the Iraqi market.

One trader said that some Turkish businessmen are now taking their cargo to Iraq by sea and to the port of Basra, bypassing the land border with the Kurdistan Region.