ANKARA(BullionStreet): Gold remained the back bone of Turkey's trade with Iran this year as the yellow metal accounted for 40% of total turnover till November this year.

According to Iranian news agency IRNA, total trade between Iran and Turkey have risen nearly 50 percent this year to $20 billion in a 10-month period ending in November.

The Of the $20 billion in trade, $7 billion resulted from Turkish exports of gold to Iran.. Turkey has been importing Iranian oil and gas, and has been compensating the Islamic Republic in gold, beginning in February.

Turkish imports from Iran, however, were far less: in 2011, Turkey imported $10.573 billion in goods, a figure that actually dropped to $10.368 billion this year.

There was a 45.89 percent growth in value, compared to the same period the previous year, when bilateral trade stood at $19.697 billion.

According to a report, exports from Turkey to Iran rose 243.5 percent in 2012 over the previous year,a total of $9.329 billion in products to Iran over the 10-month period in 2012.

The figure represents a drastic increase over the $2.927 billion in exports to Iran the previous year.