Turkey and Iraq are getting ready to open a second border gate in order to meet the growing demand of transportation between the two countries, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported on Thursday.

Currently all road transportation between the two countries is made via Habur border gate, which is their only border gate.

Turkish Minister of Transportation Binali Yildirim was quoted as announcing that a second gate would be opened.

"The new gate to be opened, no doubt, will enhance the relations between the two countries in the field of commercial transportation and facilitate the services to be provided by Turkish ministries and private sectors," he said.

Meanwhile, his Iraqi counterpart Amir Abd al-Jabar Ismail, who is in Ankara to attend a handover ceremony for the 5 train cars Iraq purchased from Turkey on Wednesday, said that a second gate was necessary as "Habur border gate was insufficient in meeting the growing road transportation between the two countries."

The announcement on the new border gate was welcomed by the business circles in the southeastern region of Turkey.

"A second border gate would enhance relations with Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries," said Tarkan Kadioglu, Chairman of Turkey's Eastern and Southeastern Industrialists and Businessmen Association.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2008)