While the focus of recent Turkey-EU talks may have been on the refugee crisis, the trade community is eagerly following developments of the counterparties’ trade relations.

In particular, the advancement of negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US has Turkey worried that it may lose its preferential trade relation with the EU. The country is now looking to upgrade its custom union with the EU.

GTR caught up with Pinar Artiran, WTO chairholder at Istanbul Bilgi University, at the GTR Turkey Trade and Export Finance Conference 2016 to discuss the future prospects for trade between these markets. She tells GTR that Turkey’s goal has always been to join the EU: “Any new enhancement of relations must be towards strengthening and making Turkey closer to full membership.”