Turkey seeks to join Eurasian Customs Union: Economy Minister

PanARMENIAN.Net - Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said Turkey wants to join the Eurasian Customs Union, Daily Sabah reports.

“Before the downing of the Russian aircraft on November 24 last year, Turkey was negotiating a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Russia,” Zeybekci said.

“During Putin's last visit to Turkey, we signed a framework agreement with the Russian Minister of Economy. Now we have restarted the FTA negotiations with Russia. We want to conclude these negotiations as swiftly as possible. The FTA will first cover the service sector and investments. Later we want to include industrial production, especially agricultural products.”

“Russia leads the Eurasian Customs Union, which includes countries such as Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan [Azerbaijan is not a member of the Eurasian Customs Union – editor’s note]. Of course, we want to join the Eurasian Customs Union without sacrificing our EU full-membership aims and violating the Customs Union,” the Minister added.

The Eurasian Customs Union (EACU) is a customs union which consists of all the Member states of the Eurasian Economic Union – Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.