Turkish finance minister estimated that Turkey's GDP would grow 12 percent in the first quarter of 2010, saying that the country's economy had been recovering quickly from the fallout from the global recession.

"The figures have yet to be released but the recovery in our country is pretty fast. I am expecting a 12 percent grwoth rate for Q1," Mehmet Simsek on Thursday told a Brussels meeting on effects of the global economic on Turkey's economy.

The meeting was co-organized by the European Policy Center (EPC) and the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON).

Simsek said Turkey's economy was about to return back to pre-crisis levels, adding that Turkey proved successful in weathering the crisis through its own means.


AA