North Dakota products, especially peas and lentils, could be attracting some new customers in the Middle East, said Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson Wednesday in a phone interview from Turkey.

A delegation of 14 North Dakota companies, higher education officials and state trade office representatives have spent the last week in Turkey meeting with business and government leaders there to forge relationships - and hopefully business partnerships.

"In a lot of ways, Turkey is similar to the United States," Johnson said, describing the talks between North Dakotan and Turkish business leaders as preliminary. "It's a cosmopolitan county, and it's at the crossroads of trade."

Marvin Flaten of JM Grain in Garrison was in Mersin, Turkey, Wednesday evening with Johnson, saying he is confident he will have Turkish customers by next year.

"I feel confident we'll be shipping North Dakota lentils and peas in the very near future," Flaten said. "There is beginning to be a big demand in Turkey for green peas."

Flaten added that red lentils also are very popular among Turkish consumers.

"People in Turkey consume red lentils three times a week," he said. "That represents a potential market in the future."

Turkey, a country of about 72 million people situated north of the Mediterranean Sea, Syria and Iraq, has a large agriculture industry that employs 35 percent of the country's workforce, according to the Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook.

The North Dakota Trade Office organized a similar mission to South Korea in March.

The delegation is expected to return home on Saturday.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@bismarcktribune.com.)