Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus will not be an alternative to the European Union (EU) for Turkey, director of the Turkish Institute of Strategic Thinking said on October 28.

When Turkey became a member of the Customs Agreement with the EU in 1994, it was expected to harm the economic interests of the country, director of the Turkish Institute of Strategic Thinking and Doctor of Social Sciences Professor Yasin Aktay told Baku-based Trend news agency.

However, this agreement strengthened Turkey's economy, because domestic economic competitions intensified in the country, he said.

Aktay said that Turkey's membership in the agreement does not mean that Ankara will not be interested in joining the Customs Union.

"Currently, one of Ankara's priorities is the development of economic relations with all countries," he said, adding that Turkey has held a policy of developing free economy for the last 10 years.

Being a participant of the Customs Agreement with Europe, Ankara can hold negotiations with the Customs Union to join this organization, Aktay said.

The Customs Union was established in 2010. The purpose of the organization is to form a single customs territory within which no customs duties or economic restrictions are applied. The single economic space of the Customs Union started operating on January 1, 2012.

During a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council On October 2, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev offered admitting Turkey to the organization.

However, Turkish media reported on October 26 that Turkey has not received an official offer to join the Customs Union.

According to the report, a year ago Ankara was invited to join the Customs Union and the organization held negotiations with Turkey in this regard. However, the talks have currently lost their relevance.

Earlier, Sergey Markov, deputy chairman of the working group on international cooperation and public diplomacy of the Russian chamber said that if Azerbaijan joined the Customs Union, this would most likely be done jointly with Turkey.

The Customs Union member countries welcome new partners to the organization and have given Armenia and Kyrgyzstan their support in this regard.