Turkey needs place at table of FTA talks between EU and US

Turkey's Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan on Tuesday met with US Ambassador in Ankara Francis Ricciardone and representatives of several US companies which have investments in Turkey. Speaking at the meeting, Zafer Caglayan said that Turkey needed a place at the table as part of free trade agreement talks between the European Union (EU) and the US. On the trade volume between Turkey and the US, Caglayan stressed that "as part of the model partnership, we need to balance our trade with the US. We buy three things from the US and sell one. This is like a one-sided love. Our trade relations must be balanced." "The trade volume between Turkey and the US must be expressed with 120 billion USD and not 20 billion USD. This is important for a strong partnership," Caglayan stated. "Turkey is the right address for global competition," Caglayan said. On the EU, Zafer Caglayan underlined that "the EU had two faces. It is high time we place the Customs Union on the table." Ambassador Ricciardone, in his part, said that they considered all natural resources in Eastern Mediterranean as tools to encourage peace and to increase prosperity for all countries.