Text of FTA agreement between Turkey, Ukraine to be finalized soon – ambassador

The text of the Free Trade Area Agreement (FTA) between Turkey and Ukraine will be completed soon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Yagmur Ahmet Guldere has said.

"I believe that both sides are making every effort to reach a common position. Last Friday [July 17] we had a round of negotiations that took place online. Again, we see that the coronavirus is not slowing us. I hope that in accordance with the instructions of our presidents, we will be able to finalize the text as soon as possible," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

According to Guldere, Turkey and Ukraine have covered very important issues for concluding this agreement.

"The presidents of both countries have clear instructions, they repeated them in February, when they met in Kyiv, namely to conclude this agreement as soon as possible. Undoubtedly, when it comes to such two large economies as Turkey and Ukraine, we are talking about 120 million people, various competing industries, in which one side sometimes has very important competitive advantages over the other. Obviously, in both countries there are circles that have concerns about this agreement," the diplomat said.

At the same time, Guldere said that the FTA agreement between Turkey and Ukraine is a win-win for both sides.

"When I hear all these arguments about the FTA between Ukraine and Turkey, how negatively it will affect some sectors, I believe that we need to look at the bigger picture and the additional benefit that this agreement will bring to our economies and, finally, to consumers in Ukraine and Turkey. As President Zelensky says, this is a "kazan-kazan", that is the win-win agreement," the ambassador said.

He added that at present, work on setting the date for the next meeting of the High Level Strategic Council (the meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and Turkey) continues.

Source: www.en.interfax.com.ua