Turkey's anger at Egypt may cost economy

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ANKARA, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The deteriorating relations between Turkey and Egypt amid increasing violence in the most-populous Arab country, may harm the Turkish trade interests in the region, experts say.

"Bad relations with Syria and Egypt have created a line in Mediterranean that hampers Turkey's economic interests in the Gulf and beyond," Taylan Ertan, economist and writer at business daily Dunya, said.

Ertan called for urgent revision in Turkish foreign policy in the south to reduce adverse impact of developments on Turkey's trade and economic interests.

The trade volume between Turkey and Egypt reached 5.2 billion U. S. dollars last year and Turkish exports to Egypt rose 33 percent year over year. However, Turkey's exports have already dropped some 8 percent in the first eight months of this year.

Egypt hosts some 260 Turkish companies, with an estimated investment of 2 billion U.S. dollars and generating some 60,000 jobs for Egyptians.

"The Turkish government is under pressure from mass rallies held across the country that cries out against the mounting casualties in Egypt," Idris Gursoy, Ankara-based veteran journalist told Xinhua.

"Ankara feels it cannot stay indifferent to people's feelings and had to express its outrage for the killing of the military- backed interim government," he said, adding, however, this can hamper Turkey's relations with the Gulf.

DOWNPLAYING CONCERNS

But some officials and observers also downplayed the impact, saying that Turkish businesses in Egypt are protected under mutual trade deals.

"We are not currently facing serious trouble in trade with Egypt," Turkey's Economic Minister Zefer Caglayan said,.

"We have as many as 260 Turkish-owned firms doing business in Egypt... an emergency desk at our ministry received demands from over 100 companies for consultations but nobody is shutting their business there," he said.

More than 800 people have been killed and thousands injured in Egypt since last Wednesday in clashes between supporters of Egyptian ousted president Mohamed Morsi and security forces.

Turkey and Egypt have canceled naval military drills and recalled their ambassadors last week.

Turkish Foreign Ministry issued stronger travel warning on Sunday, advising its citizens to stay away from protest sites and not to travel by land.

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