Ercument Aksoy, chairman of Turkey-Iraq Business Council, said on Friday that nearly 120 Turkish drivers have been killed in Iraq since the Iraq war started two years ago.

Aksoy gave the figure at a panel discussion in Iskenderun town of Hatay province in Turkey on "Commercial Relations with Iraq and Business Opportunities," the semi-official Anatolia News Agency reported.

"The most important problem in Iraq is security. Nearly 120 Turkish drivers have been killed so far," he said.

"We could not form a consortium to provide security in Iraq. There has been chaos in Iraq since March 2003. Now, Turkey should clarify its policy about Iraq," Aksoy added.

The trade volume between Turkey and Iraq stood at 1.8 billion US dollars in 2004.

Aksoy said in order to increase the trade volume, the problem of security should be resolved first.