Zaman: 'Turkish-Syrian trade not affected' ... Financial Times: 'Trade dries up!'

Via FLC

"Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) figures for the first half of this year indicate that Turkish exports to Syria were roughly equal to those of the January-June period of 2010. Exports to Syria were $824 million in the first six months of 2011, a slight increase over the $807 million in 2010 during the same period. The turmoil in Syria has also not resulted in a decline in the number of Syrian tourists coming to Turkey, with their numbers in fact increasing. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the number of Syrian tourists increased by 18.8 percent in the January-April period of this year compared to the same period of 2010..."

The Financial Times begs to differ. Intox?

"...However, ... estimates that trade at Hatay’s formal crossing points with Syria has fallen 80 per cent, and says informal trade of small goods in private cars, worth about $600m a year, has stopped altogether...
Although nearly all of the problems cited are to do with instability in Syria, which affects all countries who trade with it, some fear that a recent diplomatic volte-face by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, in which he described his former ally’s crackdown on protesters as “savagery”, is affecting the cross-border business climate...
Unlike the Islamist leadership in Ankara, many businessmen in Hatay, where there is a relatively high concentration of minority groups, express support for Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. One woman who sells trinkets and memorabilia outside a hotel in Antakya says that she sells many more rugs depicting Mr Assad than she does ones of Mr Erdogan.
According to Christopher Phillips of the Economist Intelligence Unit, while significant divestments from Syria are extremely unlikely, there are signs that Turkish businesses are delaying new investment and expansion projects in Syria because of the unrest.
In the long run, however, Mr Phillips believes Turkey’s trade and business relationship with Syria is driven by economic imperatives that are likely to prove more powerful than politics.
“It’s widely expected that whatever happens in the next six months, Turkish economic interests will continue in Syria,” he says."

 

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