Report: Iranian Banks to Open Branches in Turkey

Ankara has licensed two Iranian banks to operate in Turkey, media reports said on Wednesday.
Iran’s Bank Pasargad and Bank Tejarat have obtained the necessary licenses from Turkey to open up branches in the neighboring country, the Turkish media reported.

Bank Mellat, another Iranian bank, which set up its first branch in Turkey in 2003, has now three branches in the Turkish cities of Izmir, Istanbul and Ankara.

Last week, the Turkish media reported that Tehran and Ankara have agreed to boost their banking exchanges.

In July 2012, Pasargad and Tejarat banks had applied for a license from Turkey.

Iran and Turkey have in recent years increased their cooperation in all the various fields of economy, security, trade, education, energy and culture.

The two sides have exchanged several politico-economic delegations during the last few months.

On Wednesday, Head of Izmir Chamber of Commerce Akram Demir Tash voiced his country’s enthusiasm for promoting economic ties with Iran, and announced that a trade delegation from Turkey plans to visit the country to this end.

The Turkish official said that the traders will visit Iran on April 25-29 for four days, and are to travel to Tehran, Assalouyeh and Bushehr.

He further added that the Turkish delegation plans to open a new chapter in cooperation with Iran, adding, “We have had intensive meetings with Iranian officials to attract investment.”

“Our goal is to boost trade between the two countries. The preferable trade agreement signed between Iran and Turkey in January shows the importance of economic cooperation between the two sides. We hope that the agreement will be implemented,” Demir Tash underlined.