Emirates NBD, the leading Gulf Arab lender by assets, said on Tuesday it is looking at buying opportunities in the Turkish banking sector.

"We're open to the thought (of buying into the Turkish banking sector)...actually we've been working on it for the past 12-15 months, we're continuing to look," Abdul Wahed al Fahim, Emirates NBD General Manager Wholesale Banking, told Reuters.

Turkey's banking sector is expected to see privatisations in both large lenders - Ziraat and partially state-owned Halkbank.

Turkey has also been a major target for foreign acquirers attracted by strong lending growth, despite the country having some of the highest interest rates in emerging markets.

Leading Turkish banks posted lending growth of more than 10 percent in the first quarter compared with the end of last year, despite a slowdown in the economy's growth rate.-Reuters