If we think of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as a train, the country of Turkey should form the middle wagon. In other words, in the future, Turkey's role will be a balancing element when the political and cultural impact of this system reshapes 50 percent of the world economy. The phobia of Turkey that developed over long years in Europe has ended, and our improving economic dynamics has completely altered the image of Turkey in Europe over the last 10 years.
Today, Turkey is continuously growing and working toward producing high value-added products using its own technologies. Excluding Russia and Iran, the total size of the economies of Turkey's neighboring countries just about equal Turkey's economy. In addition, there is the African market, where we have a $50 billion trade target to reach by 2015 and the market of the Arabian Peninsula, where our trade has grown 11 times in the last 10 years. In most of these countries, diplomatic relations and bilateral representatives are increasing; new friendships are established through high-level visits and political relations. These new windows and friendships also create a new dimension for the bilateral economies. The Transatlantic World knows that it is impossible not to place Turkey, a country that has explored its power in the region, at the center of this trade project. We are also aware of this, and we want Turkey to join in the official talks as soon as possible.
In addition to Turkey's improving economic and political reputation, Obama's first visit abroad following his re-election was to Turkey, and presenting Turkey as a "model partner" changed the main parameters of the new political understanding and made it clear how the U.S.-Turkey relations should be. Bearing in mind these two situations, the center of the economic and political partnership that forms the Transatlantic World, is actually Turkey. Evidence for this is the fact that there is no other dialogue with a country that is not a party to any trade agreement, like that has been established with Turkey. This special case may only be explained by the special partnership with Turkey. For now, we cannot see any country either in the West or in the east Atlantic involved in the process.
Turkey is located in an extremely challenging geographical location, where there are many disputes in neighboring countries. The resilience that Turkey's economy shows in spite of this situation, proves the real power of its economy. Because of this, there is a need to reconsider Turkey's structure and importance with its continuing structural reforms. We watch closely the situation in the countries in our region that are led by dictatorship and absolute monarchs. Additionally, we know how important Turkey is in the eyes of the West, with its almost 100-year-old traditional, strong Republic and its leader, the president, who has been chosen by the free will of its citizens. We all saw that many wrong decisions led to long-term disadvantages in Turkey and its partners in the past. It is unthinkable to leave Turkey out of this partnership that has almost three-fourths of the global trade volume, in this era, when the U.S. is our closest ally, the EU is one of our most important trade partners, as a member of the Customs Union and our full-membership negotiations with the EU continuing. As it has integrated its economy with the EU in recent years, it is inevitable that Turkey be in the trade integration between the EU and the U.S. However, in spite of the fact that every decision maker agrees with us, we still do not see Turkey in the sixth round of these negotiations. Besides, Turkey joining this partnership process does not only have benefits for Turkey. If Turkey joins the partnership, the highest GDP growth will increase from 0.264 to 0.280 in the EU and to 0.304 in the U.S. This means that the benefits of Turkey joining in the TTIP process is proven with concrete data.
Despite the general economic stagnation in the world, Turkey's growth continues above average. We know that the whole world follows the radical democratic reforms in Turkey. With its young population, increasing education level and GDP, a powerful and ambitious new Turkey will continue to shine in the region. As I mentioned in the beginning, if the TTIP is a train, Turkey must be its middle wagon. But if we are left out, this middle wagon will gradually start to build its own train.
