Trade between Türkiye and Syria has started the new year on a strong note, a senior official said Tuesday, as exports gained pace following last month’s ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad.
Within the first 25 days of this year, Türkiye’s exports to Syria’s northern regions rose by 35.5% to $219 million, up from $161 million during the same period in 2024, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said.
Türkiye has been the main backer of the opposition forces that overthrew Assad and has since pledged to help Syria's reconstruction and economic revival.
It has been the biggest host of Syrians who fled the civil war that began in 2011, taking in some 3 million people, and is the main entry point for aid.
Since 2016, Türkiye, with its Syrian allies, mounted several cross-border military campaigns against PKK terrorists that it sees as a threat to its national security and liberated most of Syria's northeast.
With its strong ties to Syria's new leadership, Türkiye stands to benefit from intensified trade and cooperation in areas including reconstruction, energy and defense.
Bolat attributed the growth to the end of the war and the establishment of a new administration in Damascus, which he says is closely cooperating with Ankara. He said the conflict had significant impacts such as migration, terrorism and the interruption of Türkiye’s trade flow to the Middle East and the Gulf.
"In the new era, there will be significant momentum in the fields of economy, trade, investment and reconstruction between Türkiye and Syria,” said Bolat.
The trade volume between the two countries stood at $2.3 billion in 2010, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), before the war broke out. In 2012, the volume plummeted to $565 million.
It increased over the years but never achieved pre-2011 levels. Türkiye exported goods worth around $2.2 billion to northern Syria in 2024, led by sales of wheat, iron and steel products, and cement. Imports totaled around $450 million.
On Monday, Bolat announced that Syria has decided to reduce tariffs on nearly 270 products it imports from Türkiye after the two countries agreed to reassess customs duties and held discussions on economic and trade relations during last week’s meetings in Damascus.
These goods include food such as chicken eggs, flour, corn, milk and cream, some iron and steel, and hygiene products.
Earlier this month, reports suggested Syria had increased duties by 300% to 500%, including on imports from Türkiye, which left kilometers-long truck lines piling up near border crossings between the two nations.
However, the Trade Ministry has said that the newly implemented tariff system, effective as of Jan. 11, was not exclusive to Turkish goods but applied equally across all borders and customs administrations.
Bolat said claims were completely “ill-intentioned, greedy, deliberate and baseless.”
“Even after the decisions regarding customs duties, our exports between Jan. 11 and Jan. 25 reached $130 million. This figure was only $98 million for the same period in 2024,” he added.
During the civil war, Syria had minimal customs duties on food, construction materials and other essentials due to its needs, Bolat said on Tuesday. The new leadership made changes to 6,302 customs tariffs to collect revenue for public expenditures, he added.
"There have been increases in some customs duties and reductions in others for exports to northern Syria,” the minister said.
At meetings in Damascus, officials also agreed to start negotiations to re-enact the free trade agreement (FTA) suspended in 2011.
“We proposed to fully revive it (free trade deal), come together and work on necessary adjustments on a product basis, and they responded positively. So, we have an agreement,” said Bolat.
