Source: European Parliament
Türkiye is a candidate country, a key regional player and a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) member. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted Türkiye’s relevance as a regional actor, especially in the Black Sea.
Türkiye has supported the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, voting in favour of the relevant resolutions at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, engaged politically, economically and diplomatically, facilitating the export of Ukrainian grain and prisoner exchanges.
In August 2024, Türkiye ratified the free trade agreement with Ukraine[1]. While a strategic partner for Ukraine in the defence sector, Türkiye maintains strong trade, economic and political relations with Russia.
Türkiye has refrained from aligning with the EU’s restrictive measures against Russia, keeping its position of not supporting those adopted outside the UN framework.
As the EU and Türkiye share a customs union, the EU has called consistently on Türkiye to implement additional measures to effectively prevent the circumvention of EU restrictive measures and this has led to some progress.
Türkiye took some measures throughout 2023 to prevent the transit and re-export of sanctioned goods to Russia notably what concerns the items in the common high priority (CHP/battlefield) list of 50 harmonised system (HS) codes.
The Commission continues to actively monitor the trade data and exchanging with Türkiye. The EU Sanctions Envoy leads the cooperation efforts, latest discussed with Türkiye at the High-Level Dialogue on Trade (8 July 2024)[2].
In its 2023 enlargement report[3], the EU called on Türkiye, as a candidate country, to align with the EU’s restrictive measures against Russia.
- [1] https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2024/08/20240802.pdf (Türkiye’s Official Gazette, Law no. 7523).
- [2] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_24_3684
- [3] https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/document/download/eb90aefd-897b-43e9-8373-bf59c239217f_en?filename=SWD_2023_696%20T%C3%BCrkiye%20report.pdf