Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 20
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Turkish Transport, Maritime and Communication Minister Lutfi Elvan said the twofold increase in transit fees for Turkish trucks entering Iran is illegal, the Kanal7 TV channel reported Oct. 20.
He noted that Iran and Turkey are neighbors and they have trade relations.
The minister said Turkey respects all agreements with Iran, adding that Tehran's response should be similar.
Over the past years, Iran has charged a $750 transit fee for the trucks entering the country from Turkey, while the Iranian trucks were entering Turkey for free.
Following that Turkey imposed a similar fee on Iranian trucks. This was done to force Iran to reduce the transit fee for Turkish trucks, but the Islamic Republic increased the fee to $1,500 on October 10.
At the same time, the Iranian officials said that under an agreement signed with Turkey a few decades ago, the two sides may charge a transit fee only if there is a difference in fuel prices in the two countries.
The price of 1 liter of diesel fuel in Turkey is 2.12 TRY (the rate of $1 is equal to 2.2729 TRY). In Iran, 1 liter of diesel fuel costs 2,500 IRR (the rate of $1 is equal to 26,692 IRR).
Edited by CN