Levent Kenez/Stockholm
The United Kingdom and Turkey have announced their intention to begin negotiations for a new free trade agreement (FTA). The two countries had previously signed an FTA on December 29, 2020, marking the first such agreement between the UK and another state since the UK’s departure from the EU.
The new agreement is to include not only goods but also services. In 2022 bilateral trade between the UK and Turkey reached nearly £26 billion, underscoring the robust economic ties between the two countries. According to the UK’s Department for Business and Trade, this initiative is the latest development in the UK’s trade strategy, aimed at boosting service industry exports through agreements with various partners. These include ongoing negotiations with Mexico and South Korea as well as memorandums of understanding with key US states like Florida and Texas.
The discussions began on March 14 in London, with UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and her Turkish counterpart, Minister for Trade Ömer Bolat, in attendance. An updated trade deal is expected to strengthen the existing trade relationship, providing a competitive advantage to the UK’s services sector in the Turkish market, potentially leading to job creation across the UK and Turkey.
Bolat said they had a very productive bilateral meeting with Badenoch in London, emphasizing that the United Kingdom, with a trade volume of $19 billion, is a strategic trading partner for Turkey. Additionally, he pointed out that the UK is Turkey’s fourth-largest export partner and its fifth-largest investor, with $8.3 billion in foreign direct investment. He said this productive meeting is seen as a significant step to further deepening the existing economic and commercial relations between the two countries and that they will continue their trade diplomacy with the United Kingdom in the coming period without slowing down.
In a statement issued by the Turkish Ministry of Trade, it was also noted that the new agreement will ensure the preservation of existing concessions within the EU-Turkey customs union following the UK’s exit from the European Union. This, in turn will contribute to the trade volume between the two countries.
UK Trade Secretary Badenoch also said, “We already have a developing trade relationship, and this relationship will only be further strengthened with a new, modernized trade agreement.”
The envisioned trade deal could significantly increase UK services exports to Turkey and offer British consumers a wider range of Turkish goods, including nuts, bulgur wheat and tomatoes. Despite being the world’s second-largest services exporter after the US, services accounted for only 27 percent of UK exports to Turkey in 2022. Major UK corporations such as Deloitte, Diageo and Vodafone have contributed to shaping negotiation objectives through public consultation.
The first round of negotiations on the free trade agreement between Turkey and the UK is set to take place on June 10 in London. It is anticipated that the negotiations will be concluded within a few years and implemented on the agreed effective date following approval by the parliaments of both countries.
It is noteworthy that close cooperation exists between the UK and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, unlike with other Western countries. The UK was the only Western country to support the Erdogan government’s narrative after a controversial coup attempt in 2016 that many believe was a false flag operation organized by Turkish intelligence. Following the abortive putsch, Erdogan built an authoritarian regime and completely controls the judiciary and armed forces thanks to the purge of more than 150,000 civil servants and military officers.
In 2022 the United Kingdom was the first country to lift a ban on arms sales to Turkey that had been imposed along with European Union countries following a unilateral Turkish offensive in northern Syria in 2019.
