Turkey lays groundwork of ro-ro voyages between Mersin and Alexandria

ANKARA (A.A) - January 2, 2012 - Turkey's economy minister said on Monday that Turkey had laid the groundwork of ro-ro voyages between Mersin and Alexandria. Zafer Caglayan said Turkey had worked on alternative routes within the scope of sanctions on Syria, and laid the groundwork of Mersin-Alexandria ro-ro voyages. "Syria route covers 11 countries, and only 13 percent of exports to these 11 countries are made through highway," Caglayan told a press conference in Ankara. Caglayan said Syria used to get almost 2,000 USD from every Turkish truck passing through its territories, and the amount Syria earned from passage of trucks reached 100 million USD every year. "Syrian administration has taken so wrong decisions that it caused its own economic crisis," Caglayan said. Caglayan said Turkey's transportation through Mersin-Alexandria route and to Jordan would probably begin mid-January. In November 2011, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu unveiled sanctions on Syria over Damascus' refusal to halt a violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.  Following is a list of sanctions:    1- Turkey will suspend its High Level Strategic Cooperation Council until a legitimate rule is established in Syria.    2- Turkey will impose a travel ban on and freeze bank assets of members of the Syrian leadership who have been alleged to resort to violence and unlawful methods on Syrian people. Turkey will also take similar measures against businesspeople who give strong backing to the Syrian regime.    3- Turkey will halt sale and supply of all weapons and other military equipment to the Syrian army. 4- Turkey will intercept delivery of all weapons and other military equipment to the Syria through Turkish soil, air space and waters. 5- Relations between Turkish and Syrian central banks will be suspended.  6- Financial assets of the Syrian government in Turkey will be frozen.  7- Turkey will stop all financial credit dealings with Syria. 8- All operations, except for ongoing ones, with Syria will be stopped.  9- Turkey will suspend a Turkish Eximbank loan deal to finance Syrian infrastructure projects.