Turkey-Spain relations; 10 times business relations in 20 years

Eviralnews, the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Madrid, Spain, is another example of Ankara's efforts to develop economic relations with European countries.

In Madrid, Erdogan attended the eighth meeting of the High Council of Political and Economic Cooperation between Turkey and Spain, and a group of Turkish industrialists and economic activists accompanied him on this trip.

Over the past few years, Turkey has not had a good relationship with the European Union member states in the political-security fields, but in the economic field, the situation has improved year by year.

Apparently, this situation indicates that some kind of unwritten agreement between Türkiye and the Europeans has been created. They buy raw materials and manufactured goods from Turkey at a low price and have taken over a significant part of the Turkish goods consumption market. But when it comes to political and legal issues and Turkey's membership in the Union, they question Ankara's behavior in various areas and are not ready to comment on the possibility of Turkey's membership.

Spain is one of these countries that has growing relations with Turkey in the economic field and has agreed with Turkey on the recognition of the Palestinian state, but Spanish diplomats and representatives in the European Union Parliament and Commission are in the forefront of critics of Turkey's policies.

In a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Erdogan evaluated the decision of this European country to recognize the Palestinian state as important and expressed hope that other countries will also be inspired by the correct view of Spain in this regard.

An unprecedented increase in business exchanges on the Ankara-Madrid route

In 2002, when Erdoğan and his comrades had just taken power in Turkey, the volume of trade between Turkey and Spain barely reached 2 billion dollars, but in 2023, the trade volume will reach 19 billion. and reached $800 million, setting an impressive 10x record.

The important point in the economic relations between Turkey and Spain is that the balance of trade between these two countries is at the point of moderation and each of them sells 10 billion dollars of goods to the other side.

Erdoğan stated that the increase of trade exchanges is one of the most important aspects of the development of the relationship and all-round cooperation between the parties, and he wants more Spanish investors to invest in the Turkish market.

Now Spain is the sixth country that has a prominent presence in the Turkish market with 740 companies and 11 billion dollars worth of shares. On the other hand, Turkish contracting companies have completed 6 projects worth approximately 1.1 billion dollars in Spain, and participation in the Barcelona stadium project is one of the most concrete examples of cooperation in this field.

Erdogan has announced about Turkey's commercial capacities that the total export volume of this country will reach 355 billion dollars in 2023, of which 255.4 billion dollars are goods exports and 101.7 billion dollars are service exports, and Turkey and Spain, as two G20 members, can mutually , play an important role in increasing each other's economic power.

A complaint and an unanswered request

After meeting with the king of Spain and also during the meeting with the prime minister of this country, Erdogan pointed out the importance of cooperation in the field of defense industry between Ankara and Madrid and emphasized that the two sides can work well with each other in the drone and submarine industries. But the Spanish authorities, at least in the visible part of the scene, did not give a clear answer to this proposal of the Turkish president.

In his press conference with Sanchez, Erdoğan did not forget to complain about the European Union and said about the Union's confrontation with Turkey's membership: “Our efforts continue by implementing the necessary measures for full membership in the European Union.” However, our honest steps towards the European Union have been hindered by some members who only care about their own interests. They cannot see the fact that our country's membership in the Union creates a high added value.”

Erdoğan also expressed concern about the power of the extreme right movement in the European Parliament elections and pointed out that the lack of cooperation between the European Union and Turkey in the area of ​​exemption from the customs union and the strict procedures for issuing visas to Turkish businessmen are examples of narrow-minded policies that prevent From the full use of common capacity in economic and commercial fields.

Erdogan also announced that he is grateful for the sincere support of Spain, especially Sanchez, for Turkey's EU membership process and believes that this process will continue to increase.

During the Turkish President's visit to Spain, 11 agreements were signed between the two countries. including: memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, memorandum of understanding in the field of energy conversion, joint action plan in the field of forestry, cultural memorandum of understanding between Yunus Amre Institute and Cervantes Institute, memorandum of understanding in the field of technical and vocational education between the Ministry of National Education and Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports of the Kingdom of Spain, Memorandum of Understanding on Seafarer Training Standards, Memorandum of Understanding between Exim Bank of Turkey and the Spanish Export Credit Agency (CESCE), Memorandum of Understanding between the Organization for Regulation and Supervision of Insurance and Pensions, Memorandum of Understanding on Scientific and Technological Cooperation, Cooperation for Peaceful goals in space studies and the joint statement of the Turkish Presidential Wealth Fund and the Spanish Development Finance Corporation (COFIDES) were also signed in this ceremony.

In the end, it should be said that Turkey has cold political relations with the two important powers of the European Union, namely Germany and France, and is worried about the rise of nationalists in Italy, and the development of relations with countries such as Spain and the Netherlands has become more important for Ankara. Is.

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