Turkey focuses on alternative trade routes

Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said members of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (CCTS) should increase trade with each other further.

Recalling that Turkey is the 16th largest economy in the world and the 6th largest economy in Europe, Zeybekci said the European Union (EU) took first place in the country's exports.

Pointing out that Turkey has achieved important relations with Azerbaijan, Iran, Macedonia, Kosovo and Russia, but regarding the Turkic Council countries, the average trade volume is not even in the top 10, Zeybekçi said, "Our population totals 110 million people. When we look at our total trade, it is not even $5 billion."

Noting that Turkey has a $430 billion foreign trade volume, Zeybekci stressed that the trade volume with the Turkic Council countries constitutes only 1 percent of this figure, which creates a very important gap.

According to Minister Zeybekçi, the center of gravity of the world economy shifts towards the east every 10 years, and now the economic center of gravity has shifted towards the eastern Mediterranean. Suggesting that Turkey and its surroundings have energy and natural resources, and that Europe is one of the biggest energy demand centers, Zeybekçi said the Turkic world is one of the biggest producers of energy and raw materials, underlining that it is likely to become a meeting point for producers and retailers from around the world. "The commercial Silk Road will not exist without the Turkic-Speaking countries. We are going through a period of economic stagnation in the world," Zeybekçi said, "Very different developments will occur in the near future. The world trade will try to pull down the world growth in the coming years. We will all be affected by it. We can increase our economic growth as long as we increase our trade." Highlighting that national currencies should be strengthened, Zeybekçi noted that Turkey aims to make 10 percent of its foreign trade volume with its own national currency. "This is extremely important in terms of our financial security. We will close 2016 with zero loss. Our exports will increase once again in 2017," Zeybekçi said, adding that they started export support programs in this respect.