In Cyprus, there is a historical green line between the north and the south separating the two ethnic entities. People can pass through, but goods from the north can not. Turkish Cypriots from the north are allowed to work in the south, but they have difficulty in selling their products. That was one big reason why the regional disparity became structural on the island. Years ago, I remember reading an early draft of a World Bank report wondering why the northern part of the island was only trading with Turkey. It was and still is because of the embargo regime on the island. There are two embargo regimes in the region: One is in Israel against the Palestinians; the second is in Cyprus against the Turkish Cypriots. Both are bad.

Last week the Greek Cypriot government derogated the law - but just for electricity generators - because of the tragic accident at the Mari Naval Base that wiped out 52 percent of the electricity supply in the south. It has been years since the south has turned to the north. I see this as a positive step forward, albeit a temporary one. Liberalizing trade is good for peace; making it permanent is beneficial to both sides and to the region as well. We are not there yet, but it is good to imagine.

That is how I tend to understand the policy of zero problems with neighbors that have been advanced by Professor Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey's current foreign minister. Allowing trade to heal the wounds and increase connections is good. To ensure connections, you have to be on good terms with the governments in neighboring countries. In our region of simmering conflicts, "business by design" is required to jumpstart economic connections between nations. Doing business in this region first and foremost requires the dismantling of barriers erected by politicians. That is how governments are controlling their communities and making them interact less and less. In this age of business interaction networks and social globalization, physical barriers to trade look absurd. However, old habits die hard. This is bad for both Cyprus and Palestine.

I saw the results of "business by design" in Arbil a few months ago. Turkey's trade with Iraq had declined to nil after the first American operation and then started taking off again with the second American operation. Now Iraq as a whole is again our second largest individual trading partner. Arbil is the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government, or KRG, in Iraq. The modern airport in Arbil was built by Turkish contractors. The newly established shopping malls are all full of Turkish brands.

I recalled the KRG when I read the piece on the electricity generator trade from north to south in the Cyprus Times, precisely because our selling of electricity generators to the KRG was the starting point of Turkish entrepreneurial activity in Iraq in general. That is how some small, local producers in Turkey came back home as larger companies. It worked in Arbil. There are currently about 740 Turkish companies operating in the KRG-controlled area. We are now looking at the KRG as a heaven of business opportunities, not as a safe haven for terrorist activities.

Lifting trade barriers between countries is a positive step forward. This is unfortunately very selective and temporary in the case of Cyprus. But it is good anyway. It feels good.

This commentary was published on 30.07.2011 in Hürriyet Daily News.