Kurdistan
Turkish Consul General in Erbil Erman Topcu speaking to Rudaw at METEX2025 in Erbil on May 7, 2025. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Consul General in Erbil Erman Topcu said on Tuesday that his country is receiving significant interest at the ongoing international tourism exhibition in the Kurdish capital.
"Turkish companies showed great interest in the Middle East Tourism Fair. Turkey's flag carriers, Turkish Airlines and Pegasus; our hotels here, like Divan and Dedeman; and large-scale construction projects like the Rams Pavilion project. A delegation from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry from Van came. They opened a stand promoting Van. This was actually our idea as the consulate general," the Turkish diplomat said while attending the event.
"Turkey is truly receiving significant interest, which makes us very happy. When more of our brothers and friends come to visit us, we feel stronger and happier," he added. "That's why I equate the interest shown in Turkish tourism with the interest shown to our companies and stands here. I was very pleased to see this scene and congratulate the organizers."
The three-day Middle East Tourism Expo (METEX2025), held in Erbil with the participation of around 200 companies from 11 countries, was launched by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday.
Turkey and the Kurdistan Region enjoy strong economic relations, and Erbil heavily relies on Turkish and Iranian imports for domestic consumption. Its economy is also heavily dependent on Turkish trade and investment.
Trade volume between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey is over five billion dollars every year.
Every year, a significant number of people from the Kurdistan Region and Iraq visit Turkey for tourism purposes.
Last year, both countries lifted visa restrictions for people aged under 15 and those over 50.
"We have been doing everything we can for a long time to facilitate tourism movement from Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to Turkey,” Topcu said on Tuesday.
He added that the lifting of visa restrictions for people under 15 and over 50 “truly invigorated tourism.”
“Turkey's visa intermediary company here works very intensively in Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok to create the ideal visa application environment for our brothers here to travel to Turkey. My friends, my staff at the consulate general, and my colleagues are working day and night with these visa applications to meet this interest. Our only goal is to facilitate, as a state, this interest and demand shown for Turkey. We continue to do whatever we can for this,” the Turkish consul general noted.
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