ANKARA
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan has said that Turkey suspended crossings of its trucks to Syria.
Turkey's border gates along border with Syria were closed to crossings of trucks, Caglayan told reporters on Wednesday.
We have serious concerns regarding the safety of Turkish trucks while crossing to and from Syria, he noted.
Caglayan added that transportation from Turkey to Syria decreased 87 percent in January-May period of 2012 when compared to the same period of 2011.
However, Turkey's border gates were open for the crossings of trucks coming from Syria, he said.
Border gates are open for trucks returning to Syria after loading cargo from Turkey as well as for the Syrian vehicles which will make transit passage via Turkey, Caglayan told reporters.
The minister said that trade with Syria dropped to 337 million USD, and electricity energy export constituted nearly 110 million USD of this figure.
5,244 trucks carried cargo from Turkey to Syria in Jan-May period of 2012, said Caglayan, adding that it had been 36,966 trucks in the same period of 2011.
Earlier, Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici said that Turkey's 13 border gates along 911-kilometer border with Syria would be closed to trucks.
Dozens of Turkish trucks were either looted or torched during clashes between opponents and Syrian army in the border crossing of Bab al-Hawa last week.
