Turkish-Greek business forum held in Istanbul

The Turkish-Greek Business Forum was held in Istanbul on Monday in coordination of the Economy Ministry and in cooperation with the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) and the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) and attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras, as well as some 700 businesspeople both from Turkey and Greece. Speaking at the forum, Erdogan said that trade volume between Greece and Turkey increased by more than 100 percent over the past 10 years and that Turkey aimed to increase the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Greece to $10 billion in the shortest time possible. "On the one hand we have relatives living in Western Thrace while on the other there are Turkish citizens of Greek origin in Turkey. Both of these communities should be bridges of friendship between Turkey and Greece. We must accomplish this," Erdogan added. For his part, Samaras indicated that the future of Turkish-Greek cooperation was highly promising. Stating that relations between the two countries could be supported by a stable political framework and that they were working on a system whereby Turkish tourists could obtain visas at Greek entry ports. As part of the forum, Turkey and Greece signed 25 bilateral agreements.