Before EU: Economy Minister

Turkey hopes to finalize free trade talks with Japan before the European Union does, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi has said, just days after returning from a commerce ties-enhancing East Asia visit with the prime minister.

“The EU has launched talks with Japan on a free trade agreement (FTA), which we expect to last at least four years in the slow-paced structure of the 28-member union. We will start official talks with Japan as of June 1 and hopefully finalize the talks before the EU does and sign the Japan-Turkey FTA,” the minister said Jan. 14 in his address to Turkish ambassadors who convened in Ankara for an annual conference.

Why the economy minister calls seeking a competition with other states and then calculated is with the European Union, he did not explain. But the gap in between Brussels and Ankara is growing.
Turkey will have a free trade deal with Japan before EU Economy minister