Keywords

1 Introduction

Mutual opportunities presented by an ever-expanding foreign trade enabled by globalisation are of great importance for all countries in the world. The importance of relocating goods and services can be specified as follows (Susmus and Baslangic 2015: 321):

  • Opportunities provided by technology

  • Different environmental and health conditions

  • High demand for manufactured goods

  • Inequality of resource distribution

Both developed and developing countries are making great efforts to increase their exports. Countries try to make more exports to increase their scarce foreign exchange resources, and this is amongst the first priorities of foreign economic policy. It can be said that the situation is similar in Turkey as well, and the most reliable way of obtaining foreign exchange is through export (Takim and Ersungur 2010: 289). Turkey has adopted an open market economy model and export-oriented growth strategy since the early 1980s. The economic measures taken created a model that aimed to integrate the national economy with the world economy and to provide national growth through foreign trade and industrialisation strategy which can compete in international markets easily. Even though there have been and still are conjuncture-based troubles from time to time, Turkey’s exports and imports have continued to increase every year (Doğanlar et al. 2004: 83).

Today, with the increasing use of information and communication technologies, countries’ growth and trade with each other is increasing every day (Kalayci 2013: 145). In Turkey, these developments have been adapted rapidly, and, as a result, Turkey has managed to increase its foreign trade, especially with its neighbouring countries. Today, Turkey has an annual export volume of nearly $150 billion and import volume of nearly $200 billion. The annual foreign trade volume of around $350 billion in Turkey shows the result of past economic steps (TUIK 2017).

However, the difference of approximately $50 billion between imports and exports represents a significant foreign trade deficit. In this study, general exports and general imports of Turkey are examined. In addition, commercial transactions with Balkan countries were examined and compared with general trade.

2 Turkey’s International Business

Foreign trade volume of Turkey is rapidly increasing each year. This increase can be seen more clearly when the volume of foreign trade is examined from the date of the major economic decisions taken in the early 1980s to present day. Compared to 35 years ago, Turkey boosts a 25 times more foreign trade volume at present. In particular, the rise seen after 2007 is very important, and it attracts considerable attention. However, the rise in the volume of foreign trade was accompanied by a simultaneous increase in foreign trade deficit. In the last decade, an average foreign trade deficit of $75 billion has been formed (TUIK 2017).

The last 35 years of foreign trade of Turkey can easily be seen in Table 1. Since the imports and exports have increased continuously, the foreign trade deficit has not steadily come down for the last 35 years (TUIK 2017).

Table 1 Foreign trade by years, 1982–2016
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According to Table 2, Turkey makes half of its annual exports to the top ten countries specified. These are Germany, the UK, Iraq, Italy, the USA, France, UAE, Spain, Iran and the Netherlands. Turkey’s exports to these countries have a very important share in its overall exports. Table 2 presents a general overview of the last 10 years of exports to these countries (TUIK 2017).

Table 2 Exports by country and year (top ten country in exports) (Value: US$1000)
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On the other hand, the top ten countries with the largest share in Turkey’s imports are specified in Table 3. According to the table, more than half of Turkey’s general imports are made from these countries. The top ten countries with the largest share in Turkey’s imports are China, Germany, Russia, the USA, Italy, France, South Korea, India, Spain and the UK. Table 3 has a general overview of the last 10 years of imports from these countries (TUIK 2017) (Fig. 1).

Table 3 Imports by country and year (top ten country in imports) (Value: US$1000)
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Fig. 1
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Exports of Turkey–2016. TUIK, http://www.tuik.gov.tr/ (Accessed date 15.03.2017)

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If we compare Tables 2 and 3, countries such as Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, the USA and France seem to have a very important place in the foreign trade volume of Turkey. On the other hand, it is clearly seen that the European Union countries have a very important place in terms of export as foreign exchange earning activity (TUIK 2017) (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2
figure 2

Imports of Turkey-2016. TUIK, http://www.tuik.gov.tr/ (Accessed date 15.03.2017)

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Table 4 shows the situation of exports and imports made in 2016 according to the international standard industry classification. It can be seen that, the vast majority of exports and imports are in the manufacturing industry. Agriculture and Forestry and Mining and Quarrying sectors are also the other sectors that influence the foreign trade volume of Turkey. The figures for the year 2016 reflect Turkey’s foreign trade structure in the past years (TUIK 2017).

Table 4 Exports and imports 2016 by ISIC (Value: US$1000)
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3 The Importance of Trade with the Balkan Countries for Turkey

The Balkans constitutes a geographical peninsula in the eastern and southeastern parts of the European continent. In this region, there are 12 countries with a common historical and political background. At present these countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, FYRM, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. Some of these countries are entirely located geographically within the Balkans region, while others are partly located within it (SETAV 2017).

The Balkans is of great importance both for Turkey and the European Union. It is very important for Turkey, because the Balkan societies and the Turkish people have a shared culture and a history of coexistence since the Ottoman era. However, this region is also important for Europe because most of the Balkan countries are members of the European Union (Aytüre and Berki 2015: 197).

The Balkan countries have suffered from various political troubles and ethnic tensions in the recent past after the disintegration of Yugoslavia, but today the region has been stabilised and the present political boundaries are formed. In the present political configuration, Turkey holds a privileged position with respect to its bilateral relations with some of the countries of the region. Indeed, there are very strong links between the people living in Turkey and the Balkan countries. Relatives of Turkish origin live as a minority in the Balkan countries, and on the other hand some Balkan citizens live in Turkey (MFA 2017).

In addition, Turkey believes that Balkan countries can make the greatest contribution to the future of the wider region. For this reason, Turkey puts an emphasis on the development of unique cooperation mechanisms in the Balkans. In this context, the Southeast European Cooperation Process (SEECP) is of great importance in terms of Turkey and the other regional countries. The number of participating countries in which Turkey is a founding member, together with Slovenia, reaches 12 and covers all countries in the region (MFA 2017).

As in with most of the world, foreign trade policy constitutes an important part of general economic policy for Balkan countries, too. These two policies must be in a perfect harmony. The politics of the countries that have an important place in the world global economy are also influential in other countries due to these reasons. In this case, we can easily say that the economic policies of the European Union are very important for the countries in the region (Seyidoğlu 2015: 142).

Details of the last 5 years of exports made from Turkey to Balkan countries are presented in Table 5. Exports to Balkan countries represent an average of 6% of Turkey’s overall exports. This is an important export volume for Turkey, and it is equivalent to approximately 9 billion dollars annually. The countries which receive the highest exports volume from Turkey are Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia. On the other hand, Turkey has a very low export capacity in its trade with Montenegro, Kosovo, Croatia, Albania, FYRM and Bosnia and Herzegovina when compared to other countries.

Table 5 Exports to Balkan countries (Value: US$1000)
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Table 6 gives details of the imports of Turkey from the Balkan countries. According to this, Turkey’s imports from the Balkan countries are about 4% of its total imports. The Balkan countries, which have an import volume of approximately 8–9 billion USD, are in a position to be considered as important for Turkish trade. The Balkan countries that Turkey imports the most are Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. On the other hand, import volumes from Kosovo, FYRM, Albania, Montenegro and Croatia are in quite low levels.

Table 6 Imports from Balkan countries (Value: US$1000)
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Table 7 presents a comparative comparison of Turkey’s general foreign trade with its foreign trade with Balkan countries. According to the table, the foreign trade volume with Balkan countries is close to 20 billion dollars. The general foreign trade volume of Turkey is around 360 billion dollars. When the general trade volume is compared with the Balkan trade volume, the latter may not be very impressive. However, the exports to Balkan countries are higher than the imports, according to that Turkey is covering the imports with exports and also giving foreign trade surplus in recent years. Obviously this situation is very important and meaningful for Turkey. Especially the surplus data for 2015 and 2016 are very important for Turkey.

Table 7 Imports and exports comparison of Turkey (Value: US$1000)
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Table 8 gives us details of foreign trade volumes of Balkan countries. According to the table, Turkey has the highest level of commercial relations in the region with Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Slovenia. The trade volume of these four countries is higher than the trade volume of the remaining countries. Despite the decrease in trade volumes in the last 2 years, this decline is in parallel with the general foreign trade of Turkey.

Table 8 Foreign trade volume of Turkey with Balkan countries (Value: US$1000)
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The balance of foreign trade with Balkan countries is shown in Table 9. According to this table, in the years 2015 and 2016, Turkey exports more than it imports, thus having a surplus in its foreign trade with the Balkan countries. It is very important in terms of sustainability that this trade surplus is achieved not only by countries with very high commercial volume but by almost all countries.

Table 9 Balance of foreign trade with Balkan countries (Value: US$1000)
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4 Conclusion

Turkey has been suffering from a serious trade deficit it its foreign trade for a long time now. In this context, Turkey’s positive foreign trade balance with Balkan countries is an example that needs to be well understood and if possible replicated in its foreign trade relations with all countries. Nonetheless, it must also be noted that although trade with Balkan countries is favourable to Turkey, the volume of trade has not yet reached the desired levels.

Turkey’s mutual trade with Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia is maturing owing to high levels of trade. Moreover, the historical and cultural ties with these countries can be utilised in the development of this trade. The fact that these four countries are members of the European Union places a special emphasis on trade structure and development of the trade with these countries.

Countries such as Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, FYRM, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Turkey has had a very strong cultural and political presence in the past, have very low levels of presence in Turkey’s foreign trade. Since these countries are not yet European Union members and they are still recovering after Yugoslavia’s disintegration, Turkey should support them, both politically and commercially. A strong commercial relationship with these countries today will become much more effective and stronger in the future when they become members of the European Union.

As a result, the strategies that Balkan countries adopt for developing commercial ties with each other will be very beneficial for both these countries themselves and Turkey also. In addition, common institutions to assist their cooperation will be very useful for almost every country. At this point, all professional and civil society structures, especially the economy ministries of these countries, should facilitate their operations. In terms of contributing to this study, the following topics can be examined by future researchers:

  • Examining the trade volumes of the Balkan countries

  • Detailed analysis of product groups in the Balkan countries’ trade with each other

  • Logistics advantages of Balkan countries trading

  • Payment methods for Balkan countries’ trade with each other