Gul visits Gulf cooperation council chair Kuwait

President Abdullah Gul today is visiting the current term chair of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Kuwait, to enhance cooperation and review the current state of bilateral relations, a Presidential Press Center statement said. Along with Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, many businessmen are accompanying the president to this oil-rich country, which neighbors Iraq. Visiting Kuwait, which last week took over the GCC's rotating presidency, is not only crucial to bilateral ties with Kuwait but also to relations with the five other members of the Gulf's largest intergovernmental body: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain. Turkey and the GCC have been working to reach a free trade agreement for almost four years. Turkey's trade volume with the GCC countries has ballooned from around $2 billion in 2002 to $17 billion this year. During his two-day stay, Gul will speak at a business forum for businessmen from both countries. Turkey last year signed a strategic dialogue agreement with the GCC to boost political and economic relations and open a new page with these countries. The foreign ministers of the GCC met in Istanbul this July to clarify relations and ease trade between these countries. The foreign ministers also reportedly discussed railway and highway connections from the Gulf countries to the European Union.