Turkey In European Context Of International Trade

Foreign trade has great significance in the economy of each country through a multiplier effect reflected not only through economic components but also through socio-cultural development. The aim of the paper was to identify Turkey in the European context of international relations, that is, to highlight Turkey's comparative and competitive role in foreign trade. Factors of the relationship between the Republic of Turkey and the European Union are: demographic aspects, sociological and cultural differences, access to critique, economic aspects and political challanges. In the last two decades, the EU and Turkey customs union was the cornerstone of bilateral trade. At that time, Turkey became the world's fifth largest trade with the EU on a global scale worth EUR 140 billion in 2017. Similarly, the EU is Turkey's most important trading partner, representing 41% of Turkey's global trade. The research in this paper is based on the analysis of secondary data sources, and synthesis and descriptive methods have been applied in the interpretation of the obtained results and the formation of conclusions. The results of the study show that Turkey's integration into the European Union is determined by both "hard" economic utility factors and "soft" factors such as a sense of identity, religion or attitudes towards immigrants. Although Turkey shows positive economic trends in the European context, "soft" factors still represent the primary barrier to integration. The great migration crizis that began in 2015, and continues today, has again put Turkey at the center of geopolitical interest, but also emphasized the interdependence of Turkey and the EU and the conceptualization of a new model of mutual relations