The “Turkey Syria Economic Relations & Opportunities Meeting” organized by Mardin Chamber of Commerce and held in the Dicle Development Agency Meeting Hall under the presidency of Chairman Hatip ÇELİK and with the participation of Dr. Hakan YURDAKUL, Member of the Presidential Economic Policies Board. The meeting was attended by Kızıltepe Chamber of Commerce Chairman Mehmet ŞAHİN, Kızıltepe Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice Chairman İbrahim Halil RAMAZANOĞLU, Nusaybin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Necdet AKTAŞ, Nusaybin Chamber of Commerce and Industry Assembly Member Şükrü AKBAL, Mardin Chamber of Commerce Board Members, Civil Society Organizations, Food, Furniture, Textile Sector Representatives and Syrian Businessmen residing in Mardin.
The opening speech of the meeting was made by Chairman Hatip ÇELİK; “Our province has a 150 km border line with Syria and there are two customs gates on this border line. Şenyurt Customs Gate (Derbesiyê), which has been closed for more than 40 years due to security reasons, and Nusaybin Customs Gate (Kamışlı), which was open to export and transit passage before the civil war and was the gateway to the Middle East, have been closed for security reasons since the war.” Çelik, who stated that Mardin has a strategic location in the southeast of Turkey, said, “It has significant potential for the logistics sector, especially due to its proximity to the Middle East. If the Nusaybin and Şenyurt Customs Gates are opened, it is important for the supply chain to be provided faster and trade with Syria to be more effective. Considering both time and cost, opening these gates and providing the supply from Mardin will be advantageous. At the same time, providing customs storage and preservation services in the shortest time will also facilitate the supply of both dry and fresh food.” The meeting continued with the presentation of Turkey-Syria Economic Relations and Opportunities by Dr. Hakan YURDAKUL, Member of the Presidency’s Economic Policies Board. In his presentation, Yurdakul touched upon the subjects of Syria's Foreign Trade Partners, Product Shares in Foreign Trade, Turkey's Syrian Export Potential, Turkey's Iraq and Syria's GCC Exports, Syrians in Education and Health Tourism.

Following the meeting, the participants were given the opportunity to speak and the following issues were addressed:
Nusaybin Border Gate (Qamishli) being closed,
Providing a commitment for security,
Implementation of the customs tax law applied in exports in the United Arab Emirates,
Opening of Nusaybin Border Gate (Qamishli) as soon as possible for the logistics sector and supply services to be provided faster,
The railway should be put into operation as the cost of highways has increased,
SPP projects should be supported for energy problems,
Adding Syria among the 55 target market countries within the scope of the project supports provided by the Ministry of Trade,
Providing security for the start of the construction sector,