IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas  talked about the latest developments in post-Brexit relations between Türkiye and the United Kingdom to Metin Aktaşoğlu from Haber Global. Assoc. Prof. Nas stated that relations gained momentum in strategic areas such as security, trade, and climate and answered Aktaşoğlu’s questions. Assoc. Prof. Nas stated that:

“A Free Trade Agreement was signed between Türkiye and the UK after Brexit. Previously, the UK was in the Customs Union and was Türkiye’s second trading partner in the EU after Germany. The signing of an FTA was important to maintain this close commercial and economic relationship. While this FTA serves to protect trade relations, a more comprehensive FTA is also on the agenda. Such a deep and comprehensive FTA can bring new openings in sectors such as services and agriculture. In addition, the UK is an important country in terms of foreign direct investments. The deepening of trade relations is also important in terms of attracting foreign investments, which is very important for the Turkish economy. Since the UK has left the EU, it is no longer a part of the EU agricultural policy and internal market, especially for products such as fresh fruit and vegetables. In this respect, cooperation on agricultural products can also be carried forward. Considering bilateral trade, it is seen that Türkiye’s exports to the UK, which was 10 billion 870 million dollars in 2019, reached 13 billion 704 million dollars at the end of 2021. In addition to trade, the fact that both countries are non-EU NATO members and the importance of their military forces may lead to further development of cooperation in the defense industry. The UK’s removal of restrictions on arms exports and its interest in purchasing armed UAVs, as well as cooperation in the construction of warplanes, may lead to the further development of the partnership in this field”.

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Assoc. Prof. Nas commented on Ukraine’s EU membership application and its EU candidacy status in the interview she gave to Burak Siperli from Medyascope. Assoc. Prof. Nas said that receiving EU candidacy status is generally greeted with great enthusiasm, adding that it may take a long time to examine how well the concrete criteria are met. Reminding that Türkiye is also going through the same process, Nas emphasized that this decision is more of a morale booster for Ukraine.

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