The third round of negotiations on an enhanced Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) with Turkey took place in Ankara during the week
commencing 17 November 2025.
The UK and Turkey have a strong economic relationship, with trade
between the two totalling around £28 billion in the four quarters
to the end of Q2 2025, making Turkey the UK's 17th largest
trading partner. Trade with Turkey's growing market of 86 million
people directly supported around 57,100 jobs across the UK in
2020.
Economic growth is our first mission in government and FTAs have
an important role to play in achieving this. A stronger trade
relationship with Turkey will contribute to jobs and prosperity
in the UK.
Negotiations were productive, with positive progress being made
in a number of areas including Financial Services, Professional
and Business Services, Domestic Regulation and Entry and
Temporary Stay.
Discussions on Goods Market Access focused on unlocking
commercially meaningful opportunities for UK exporters. Progress
was also made on Customs and Trade Facilitation, as well as
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.
Further exchanges advanced work on Labour, Anti-Corruption,
Environment, Good Regulatory Practice, Dispute Settlement and
Intellectual Property enforcement, as well as approaches on
Government Procurement, State Owned Enterprises, Subsidies and
Trade Remedies, which were further refined to build common
understanding.
The UK will only ever sign a trade agreement which aligns with
the UK's national interests, upholding our high standards across
a range of sectors, including protections for the National Health
Service.
The fourth round of negotiations is expected to take place in
early 2026. Ministers will update Parliament on the progress of
discussions with Turkey as they continue to progress.
