ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s Erbil province on Wednesday inaugurated its first international border crossing with Turkey, the third of its kind between the two sides. The border crossing is located in Zet village on the Kurdistan Region’s side and Derecik, or Rubarok town, in the Kurdish-majority province of Hakkari (Colemerg) on the Turkish side. "I hope that the opening of the new crossing will signal a new age of prosperity and success between both countries," Hakkari Governor Idris Akbiyik said in his speech during the inauguration. Erbil province's only official international crossing was that of Haji Omran connecting Iran with the Region, one of the key border points between the two sides. Located between Duhok’s between Zakho and Turkey’s Sirnak, the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing is the most known of Turkey’s two official land border gates with the Kurdistan Region. The crossing is infamous for its hours-long queues, discouraging tourists from taking the The decision to open the crossing was officially made in 2013 between the Kurdish and Turkish governments, but the process was delayed due to the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) the following year. The Kurdistan Region relies on neighboring Turkey for the lion’s share of its trade and investment. Similar to Iraq to the south, the economy is heavily dependent on foreign imports of food and consumer goods, paid for with oil wealth. Trade volume between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey is over five billion dollars every year at least.
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