Turkey's exports remain unaffected by diplomatic rows

As Turkish exports to countries such as Germany, Iraq, the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates continue, the country's foreign trade performance has remained positive in spite of recent developments in diplomacy.

According to data compiled from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and the Customs and Commerce Ministry, Turkish exports in the first eight months of this year increased by 10.8 percent, to around $103.4 billion.

Trade relations with diplomatically tense Germany, where the most political tension has been seen in the recent period, led among the ranks of other countries in terms of Turkish exports.

In other words, exports to Germany in the January-August period saw an increase of 7 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching around $9.79 billion.

Moreover, $6.36 billion in exports were made to Iraq, where security problems surrounding the Bashiqa camp have caused a diplomatic spat, surrounding the 150 Turkish soldiers and as many as 25 tanks were stationed to protect Turkish servicemen training Iraqi volunteers to fight Daesh, since March 2015.

Turkey's exports to Iraq increased by 35.3 percent in the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year. Exports to the U.K. in the same period were $6.2 billion, while exports to the U.S. increased by 33.9 percent from $4.3 billion to $5.8.

After the Qatar crisis, exports to the UAE increased by 149.2 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year. Accordingly, exports, which were $2.9 billion in January-August last year, reached to $7.4 billion in the same period of this year. Exports to other countries, in contrast, increased by 6 percent to around $67.8 billion.

On the other hand, trade with Russia that had broken down in the wake of the jet crisis in late November 2015 has also started to increase again, thanks to the mutual steps being taken by Moscow and Ankara. Exports to Russia in the January-July period were registered at $1.3 billion.