Turkey's trade with 5 EU countries in debt crisis up 30 pct

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkey's foreign trade volume with five European Union (EU) member states triggering debt problem in Euro zone was up 30 percent year-on-year in the first ten months of 2011. According to foreign trade figures, Turkey's trade with Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece reached 31.8 billion USD with a 30 percent rise year-on-year between January and October 2011.  Turkey's foreign trade with Ireland was 973 million USD in the same period of 2010, but it rose 3 percent in the same period of 2011 and reached 1.02 billion USD. Turkey's imports from Ireland rose to 714 million from 712 million USD, and its exports climbed to 288 million from 261 million USD in the mentioned period. In the same period, Turkey's foreign trade with Spain was up 26.4 percent and reached 8.5 billion USD. It was 6.7 billion USD in the first ten months of 2011. Turkey's imports from Spain was 3.8 billion USD in January-October 2010 but it climbed to 5.2 billion USD in the same period of 2011. Turkey's exports to Spain rose to 3.3 billion USD from 2.8 billion USD in the mentioned period.  Turkey's foreign trade with Italy was up 32.7 percent and climbed to 17.9 billion from 13.5 billion USD. Imports from Italy reached 11.2 billion USD from 8.1 billion USD, and exports to this country rose to 6.7 billion from 5.3 billion USD. Foreign trade with Portugal reached 897 million USD from 819 million USD with a 9.5 percent rise in the first ten months of 2011. Turkey's imports from Portugal climbed to 508 million from 427 million USD, while its exports to Portugal dropped to 389 million USD from 392 million USD. Turkey's foreign trade with Greece rose to 3.4 billion from 2.3 billion USD year-on-year in the first ten months of 2011 with a 48.2 percent rise. Turkey's imports from Greece were up to 2.1 billion from 1.1 billion USD, while its exports climbed to 1.3 billion from 1.2 billion USD. Thus, Turkey's foreign trade with Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece was up 30.4 percent year-on-year in the first ten months of 2011, and rose to 31.8 billion from 24.4 billion USD. (Reporting Zekeriya Gulun)