Caglayan defines Erdogan-Obama meeting as 'historic'

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan defined the meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Barack Obama as a historic one. Erdogan's US visit and his talks with Obama will positively affect Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) process of Turkey, added Caglayan while conveying his impressions to AA about Erdogan's visit. Noting that TTIP talks between the US and the EU would continue 2-5 years, Caglayan said that Turkey would also not stay behind in this process, and expressed hope joint activities of Turkish Economy Ministry and US Office of Trade Representative would be concluded until the US and the EU would sign free trade agreement. TUSIAD chairman: the visit will leave an important mark Executive Board Chairman Muharrem Yilmaz of Turkish Industrialists' & Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) said that Erdogan's visit would leave an important mark on Turkish-US relations. Recalling that Erdogan was accompanied by six cabinet members and around 100 businessmen during his visit, Yilmaz told AA that the visit would have positive consequences on relations. One of the most important topics of the visit was the will showed by Turkey and US to develop commercial relations, he said. TUSKON chairman welcomes US interest in Turkish delegation Chairman Rizanur Meral of Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) said that US officials showed a great interest towards Turkish delegation. This was a reflection of US will to develop relations with Turkey, he added. Noting that TTIP between the US and EU was top agenda item for Turkish businessmen during the visit, Meral said that signing a free trade agrement between Turkey and the US simultaneously was very important. It was an important step to decide a committee between Turkish Economy Ministry and US Office of Trade Representative regarding this issue, he said, adding that the committee would first make an analysis, examine US-EU agreement's effects on Turkey, and then prepare a plan accordingly.