By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun
ANKARA
The business forum between Turkey and Greece kicks off in Izmir on Wednesday.
Greek Ambassador to Turkey Kyriakos Loukakis said Tuesday that despite the economic crisis in the Eurozone, the two countries' current $4 billion trade volume was still growing.
"The economic ties have been developing since 1999," he said. "However, the trade volume is still under the goal of $10 billion that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras set for 2015."
"Boosting the economic ties between Greece and Turkey will be beneficial to increase the friendship between the two countries as well," he added.
Around 400 high-level representatives from both countries will participate in the forum to discuss tourism, real estate, energy and shipping issues.
Loukakis also underscored the importance of a fair, mutually accepted and functional solution in the disputed island of Cyprus within the scope of the UN Security Council decisions.
Negotiations over the island between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots resumed after a two-year pause in February 2013. The previous round of talks had collapsed partly because of the impact of eurozone debt crisis impact on the government in the Greek Cypriot capital of Nicosia.
However, the Greek Cypriot administration suspended the most recent talks on October 7 after Turkey sent a ship to monitor an oil-and-gas exploration mission off the Cyprus coast.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will visit Greek capital Athens on December 5 and 6 to attend a bilateral cooperation meeting.
Davutoglu will co-chair the third Turkey Greece High-Level Cooperation Council meeting along with his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras.
www.aa.com.tr/en
