Business council head urges more Turkey, Egypt trade

Economic relations between Turkey and Egypt should be above politics, according to Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) Turkey-Egypt Business Council head Muhammet Mesut Toprak on Wednesday.

Toprak told Anadolu Agency Turkish companies have almost $2-billion worth of investments in Egypt.

"We hope investments and cooperation between the two countries will increase as part of goodwill.

“For Turkey, Egypt opens door to Africa and for Egypt, Turkey is a door to Europe," the council head added.

He emphasized Turkey-Egypt relations should be restructured and a new page in the relations should be turned.

Egypt is marking the seventh anniversary of its Arab Spring, which began on Jan. 25, 2011, at Tahrir Square.

Trade volume between Turkey and Egypt between 2011 and 2016 went up by 1 percent to reach $4.2 billion, according to IMF data.

In 2011, when the Arab Spring began, the size of Egyptian economy was $247.7 billion. The country's gross domestic product increased by 34.2 percent to rise to $332.4 billion in 2016.