Turkey wants to get involved in US-EU free trade

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan has said Turkey considered the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership process between the US and the EU a historical step and supported it but did not want to get excluded. Speaking at dinner held on Wednesday by the US Chamber of Commerce in his honor in Washington, the last stop of his US visit, Babacan said Turkey had been passing through a very critical transformation process. He said the reforms that had been undertaken by Turkey became a source of inspiration for the region. He said Turkish Lira was currently the most stable currency among the developing countries adding that public debt and banking system that were the most fragile fields for most countries were a strength for Turkey and because of that the impacts of latest global crisis on Turkish economy was very limited. Babacan stated that Turkey had become a center for foreign investors who would like to invest not only in Turkey but also in a broader neighborhood. Babacan said that Turkish-American relations were very strong in politics and defense but their commercial and economic ties seemed weak.