Minister for Trade (Sir ): The fifth round of
negotiations on an enhanced Free Trade Agreement with Turkey took
place in Ankara between 15 and 23 June 2026.
Economic growth is our first mission in government, and free
trade agreements have an important role to play in achieving it.
A stronger trade relationship with Turkey can support jobs and
prosperity in the UK, with trade between the two totalling £28.4
billion in the four quarters to the end of Q4 2025, an increase
of 4.3% from the previous year.
To support this round of negotiations, I travelled to Turkey to
meet with the Minister of Trade, Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, and Deputy
Minister of Trade, Mustafa Tuzcu.
Negotiations were constructive, with positive progress being made
in a number of areas:
Trade in Services
Productive discussions were held across a range of technical
areas, including Digital Trade, Domestic Regulation and
Telecommunications. The Investment session saw valuable
exchanges, reflecting the shared ambition and goodwill between
both sides. Particularly strong progress was made in Legal
Services, among other areas. Across sessions, negotiators engaged
in detailed text-based discussions, testing areas of alignment,
exploring respective levels of ambition, and identifying
outstanding issues. Both sides continued to engage productively,
building on progress made in previous rounds.
Trade in Goods
Negotiations covered a range of market access and regulatory
issues, including Goods Market Access and Sanitary and
Phytosanitary Measures, along with others. Discussions focused on
reviewing respective proposals, testing areas of alignment, and
identifying remaining gaps, while maintaining and upholding the
UK's high standards. Both sides reached agreement on modalities
for market access offers. These sessions were positive and
productive with both sides seeking a high ambition outcome to
support businesses and drive progress forward.
Additional areas
Wider cross-cutting discussions covered Intellectual Property,
Government Procurement, Trade Remedies, Environment, State-Owned
Enterprises, amongst others, with Intellectual Property
discussions in particular picking up pace - signalling a growing
shared focus on this area. Key themes included strengthening
protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property, as well as
environmental cooperation and sustainability.
Concluded Chapters
After five rounds of negotiations negotiating teams have closed
11 chapters, along with agreement on multiple annexes and
associated issues. They have made substantial progress towards an
agreement that will strengthen bilateral trade and create the
enabling environment that can increase UK exports to Turkey,
supporting jobs across UK nations and regions.
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.
The sixth round of negotiations is expected to take place in the
Autumn. Ministers will update Parliament on the progress of
discussions with Turkey as negotiations continue.
