January 10 - By opening a branch in Erbil, Iraq, Kita Logistics says that it has become the first Turkish logistics company providing all logistics services in the country, supporting its services in the Middle East and CIS countries.

Kita has a department in Istanbul dealing with the Middle East and CIS only and has been loading around 1,000 trucks per year to the region. With its own office and distribution centre in Erbil, Kita now serves all of Iraq.

Groupage or full loads coming from Europe and going into Iraq are transported regularly using Kita's fleet of more than 100 trucks. Additionally, any project cargo or container loads going into North Iraq can be transhipped via Mersin or Iskenderun and sent directly to the final destinations in Iraq.

These transit services via Turkey are regularly performed by Kita not only for Iraq, but also for the CIS and the Middle East.

Kita Logistics general manager Emre Eldener says: "We have performed many successful projects between Europe and Turkey. Nowadays, we see a significant increase in the business volumes and logistics activities on the Middle East and CIS destinations, specifically in power, oil and gas sectors. We believe the market development in those regions will continue. Therefore, we have decided to open our own office in North Iraq and have started our activities in combination with our head office in Istanbul."