AUSTRALIA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH TÜRKİYE IS LONG-STANDING, AND VALUABLE

Our goal has been simple: to make the bilateral partnership broader, fit for purpose and more resilient

Australia’s relationship with Türkiye is long-standing, and valuable. We’re building upon it in new areas; more deliberate, targeted, and aligned with directions which both countries are taking to address and navigate the major shifts in global geoeconomics. Australia and Türkiye are both supporters of the WTO rulesbased trading system. Over recent times, we’ve watched out and identified niche opportunities, most of which have emerged post-Covid. The start of flights between Istanbul and Melbourne and Sydney is a game-changer for people-to-people links and for two-way trade. We’ve taken steady, incremental steps to identify and target new areas for bilateral engagement which build economic security. Our goal has been simple: to make the bilateral partnership broader, fit for purpose and more resilient. Beyond delivering Australian Government services and high-level representation in Türkiye, we monitor Türkiye’s economic priorities actively to align with relevant Australian strengths.

We are supporting renegotiation activities currently to renew The Australia-Türkiye Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement. The objective of the renewal negotiation is to support and boost two-way investment between our countries – a vital element in developing or expanding business partnerships. Behind the formal texts and high-level collaboration to achieve such agreements, an outcome is a boost for our bilateral business communities; it signals confidence and trust, shows long-term commitment and helps reduce uncertainty. In today’s unpredictable economic landscape, having this kind of predictability is crucial—not only for fostering growth but also for ensuring stability and security. We are also engendering more engagement across agribusiness, clean energy, education, and technology areas.

We pursue that in similar ways as we approach the renewal of superseded elements of our formal bilateral economic architecture: Identifying areas for value-add, clarifying pathways to streamline or eliminate regulatory burden for business and coordinating interested parties toward joint activities which deliver positive outcomes for both sides. Türkiye’s ambitions in these sectors are clear—and Australia has much to offer. What makes this promising is that the interest is genuine on both sides. The challenge and opportunity are to connect those ambitions with practical outcomes. For example, we have close connection and collaboration in bio-security and around the protocols which affect food trade and agribusiness.

As we move forward, our goal is to transform this momentum into sustainable results. That means listening to businesses, backing up interest with action, and ensuring our efforts lead to practical, long-term benefits for both sides. Australia and Türkiye relations already have a solid foundation. What we’re doing now is building on that—deliberately and with an eye toward the future. With the right mix of commitment, strategy and cooperation, we are optimistic about where this partnership is heading.