Turkey Country Report by Tianyi Wang

TURKEY COUNTRY REPORT FASM 420 Tianyi Wang

Republic of Turkey TÃ¼rkiye Cumhuriyeti

Table of Content I Country Overview

History/Traits Geography Population Food

6 7 8 8

II. STEEP Analysis

Social Technological Environmental Economical Political

10 11 12 13 14

III. Sourcing

States of Apparel Industry Labor Law Trade Agreement with US Export Transportation Transportation company & Ports Lead Time Suppliers Business Etiquette

18 19 19 19 20 21 22 23 24

IV. Risk and Benefit

Reference

History/Traits Country: Republic of Turkey Capital: Ankara Government type: republican parliamentary democracy Head of state: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Head of government: Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu National Holiday: Republic day 29th October

I.Country Overview 5

The Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 from Ottoman Empire by Mustafa Kemal. Mustafa Kemal was a military officer of Ottoman Empire, fighting against the allies in the WWI. He started a national revolution in 1919, formed the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and became the first president. He was later given the last name Atatürk, which means “Father of Turks”. Turkey under Mustafa Kemal was a single party regime and went through radical social, political and legal reform. Mustafa reduced the dominant role of Islam-ism. He replaced the Arabic with the Latin alphabet for Turkish language to be more secularized and westernized. He encouraged people to dress in western cloth, removed women’s veiling laws and gave them right to vote. He also started the industrial revolution, built state-owned factory and railroad around the country. Mustafa died in 1938. And in 1946, Turkey had started experiencing multi party and the victory of democratic party in 1950’s election marks the beginning of Turkish multi-party regime and last till now. There’s a few military interventions in 1960, 1971, and 1980 to product Kemal’s secularism but returned to democracy in the end. In 1974, Turkey invaded in Cyprus island and helped to form the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus different from the Republic of Cyprus formed by Greek people in the north.

Geography

Food Population The total population of Turkey is 80,274,604 as of July 2016. Among them, 70% to 75% are Turkish, 19% are Kurdish and other minority groups takes around 7% to 12%. As for religion, 99.8% of the people believe in Muslims and most of them are Sunni, one of the main branches of Islam. Only 0.2% of the people have different religious belief who are mainly Christian and Jews. The middle age of Turkish people is 30.5 with men being 30.1 and women being 31. The gender ratio is pretty balanced, which is 1:05 men per women. In average, women give birth at age of 22.3 and every family would have 2.03 children. Turkey belongs to the middle east. It’s located in the southeastern Europe and southwestern Asian. It’s bordering Bulgaria and Greece in the northwest, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria in the east and southeast. It’s also located in between the Black sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The peninsula between the two sea is called Anatolia, also known for Asia minor.

Turkish daily cuisine are different meat stews and vegetables, borek, kebab and dolma dishes, besides, a sourdough bread is almost eaten with every meal. Borek, Kebab, and dolma are Turkish traditional food. Borek is a cake like dishes make of thin layers of dough with cheese and spinach, sometimes meat would be added in too. Kebab is a grilled meat dishes. And Dolma is the dishes made of vegetables, and spice. Turkish people love to eat eggplant and pork is rarely served due to the prohibition of Muslims. Lunch is the main meal of the day and dinner is usually lighter than lunch. Also different regions have their own preference of food. For example, the black sea region eats more seafood and the southern region is notable for the spice. Also American fast food is also growing in the larger cities.

The total area is 78,562 km2, including 769,632 km2 land and 13,930 km2 water. The interior of Anatolia includes mountains, valleys and high plateau. The capital Ankara located in the central plateau. It’s less exposed and easier to defense than the old capital of Ottoman Empire Istanbul. However, Istanbul is still the most industrialized and cosmopolitan city, which is the center of commerce, fashion, arts and industry. For the population distribution, cities are scattered in the inland, but the west region is more populated than the central and the east, especially in the Marmara-Istanbul region. The development of periphery started along the western coast of Mediterranean Sea and the Tigris and Euphrates River in the southeast. The weather is hot and dry in the summer; winter’s wet and mild.

Social Social classification The social classification is a traditional feature in Turkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s culture. People with wealth and education is considered upper class. Jobs as doctor, business man, politicians, layers and other high-level officials are respected the most by people, and a university education is the indispensable requirement for it. Along with the westernization, the upper class are familiar with international affairs in business, politics and culture. Most of them speaks foreign language.

II.STEEP Analysis

Crime Against Women Women are allowed to work, but they are still responsible for manage the internal affairs. And women are not respected in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Turkish society. The number of crime against women kept increasing, many suffer from domestic and physical violence. The government havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done effort to improve 39% of the women suffered physical violence Domestic violence and violence against women almost doubled from 2008 to 2011 281 women murdered in 2014, 31% increase

Family Structure Family are important in the Turkish culture. Family member live close with each other and would support each other in daily life. Elders are respected the most in the family and usually men are the head of the family and have the responsibility to provide the family with wellbeings. 9

The middle class of Turkey is emerging. They also live in the urban area would also have the university education. Many of them moved from province and village to the city, they are mostly government employees, small business owner, and skilled workers. There are still 30% of Turkish population live in the village. They are farmers and peasants, which would have a lower income than the urban population. The development of communication and transportation has led to the migration from village to the city. People are seeking higher education and higher living standard, but there are still village and province controls by landowners, religious leader and clan leader in the rural area of the south. The boundary between high-income and low-income class in Turkey is somewhat obvious. The upper and middle class would prefer western clothing and western lifestyle, with apartment and cars, they would listen to western music and be more attractive by western culture and literature. The low- income class, in the other hand, and more conservative and traditional. 10

Technology

Environmental

Turkey has a strong sector of information and communication technology. The government has making been highly support of this section. It has privatized the Turkish telecommunication to attract more foreign investment. Government has also made plan to reach 30 million broadband subscribers, supply 50% of the ICT with domestic products and services and to increase the ICT shares to 8% of GDP.

Turkey has strong environmental policies and international cooperation’s. Turkey has been updating and modernizing its environmental laws. The laws have imposed regulations and roles in recycling, water sewage treatment, water purification, solid waste management and environmental remediation. There’s also specific law of Energy Efficiency and Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources for Generating Electricity, which target to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. Turkey has also joined many regional and global environmental accords and program to acquire technical and financial assistance in order to maintain national environmental priorities. But despite the good initial of government Turkey still have a high level of pollutions.

The telephone system is expanding rapidly, and have been through modernization. The number of subscribers increased a lot. By July, 2015, there are 73.64 million people use mobile phones in Turkey, which is around 93% of the population. Also 42.68 million people are Internet users, which only talks 53.7% of the population.

Issue of Intellectual Property Right • • • • •

IPR protection and enforcement is poor Software piracy rates is high Wide spread of unlicensed software Software piracy rate is 60% Internet and mobile piracy increased to 50%

International Program: • • • • • • •

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Convention on Biological Diversity Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

Issue of Pollution • • • • • • • •

Increase of chemical and detergent effluents Rise in air pollution in urban area Discharge of pollutants by neighboring countries Extensive smog cause by the increase of cars High industrial pollution from power plants and cement, fertilizer and sugar factories Lack of filtration equipment Soil Erosion affect half of the area CO2 emission increase from 201.93 to 288.32 million metric tons

Countries’ Power Usage Hydro power Geothermal energy Energy from wood Energy from animal Energy from plant waste Solar energy Wind energy 11

Political

Economy Currency: Turkish Liras Exchange Rate: 2.9 Liras/ dollar

Top 10 Export Partner: (In Order)

GDP: $ 1.67 trillion

Germany, United Kingdom, Iraq, Italy, United

Labor Force: 30.24 million

States, France, Switzerland, Spain, United Arab

Unemployment rate: 9.8%

Emirates, Iran

Below Poverty rate: 16.9% Inflation Rate: 8%

Top 10 Import Partner: (In Order)

Export: 150.1 billion dollar

Chinese, Germany, Russia, United States, Italy,

Import: 197.8 billion dollar

France, South Korea, Iran, India, Spain

Industrial Growth Rate: 4.5% Main industries: Textile, food processing, automobiles, electronics, mining, steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Turkey’s free market economy is driven by the development of its service and industry sector. The industrial sector accounts for 26.2% of the employment, with service sector being 48.4% and agriculture being 25.5%. The government has started a privatization program to reduce government’s involvement in the basic industry, banking, transportation and communication sector to give the market more freedom to evolve on itself. Turkey’s a middle income economy. The GDP of 2016 is $1.67 trillion in 2016, which is a 3.3% growth from 2015. Turkey’s middle class has emerging, which has contributed more dynamic energy to the economy, which leads to the rise of new industry like the Petrochemical and electronic business. These has surpassed the export of the traditional textile industry. Turkey’s financial and banking system is well regulated and had helped Turkey to survive from the financial crisis in 2001 and 2008. The weakness of Turkey’s economy is its high budget deficit, which means the government expenditures has exceeded the revenue. The import value has exceeded the export value by 47.7 billion dollars in 2016, which would be part of the reason of the deficit. Another weakness is that Turkey rely on short term investment instead of the long-term, and the confidence of investors has also decreased due to the political instability of the area. The currency has been devalued from 1.8 Liras per dollar in 2012 to 2.9 in 2016. Turkey’s trading partners are mainly countries from European Union and its close neighbor countries from middle east area. Unites States is its 5th exporting partner and 4th importing partner, which took 4.5 % of the export and 5.4% of the import.

Strength Turkey’s has an enhanced international standing and strong ties to the West. Due to its location, it controls the straits linking Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea, which is the shipping pass way for many countries. It’s also member to many international organization:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Member of NATO since 1952 EU candidate country since 1999 Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) The Council of Europe United nation (UN) World Trade Organization (WTO) Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council The Group of 20 (G-20) International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Bank and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Founding member of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council(BSEC) Observer to the Organization of American States (OAS) Dialogue partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organization 14

Instability Turkey Government vs. Kurdish Militant Turkey Government vs. ISIL Turkey Government vs. Turkey Military (secularism) Economic sanction from Russia Turkey has been through a serious social turbulence lately. Domestically, Turkey has had a military coup in July 2016. Tank rolled over the street and uniformed soldiers has marched. The social media is outraged. Turkey has a history of military coup, which happened three time in 1960, 1971 and 1980, all successfully seized the control of government. The right of military to protect country’s secularization is written in the Turkish constitution. The coups in the past is a fight for secularization. Turkey’s an Islamic country, but the founder has westernized and secularized the country since 1923, trying weaken the influence of Islamic role on society. Whenever the government showed tendency towards Islamic regime, military raise up against it. The current Turkish President Erdogan has been criticized for his increasing authoritarian rule for eroding democracy and secular laws. The coup failed in the end but 290 people are killed, over 1,400 people injured. Later, more than 7,000 soldiers were arrested including 100 generals, which brings instability both domestically and internationally.

Another issue and military rivalry with Turkey is the battle between Turkey government and the Kurdish Militant. Kurds is an ethnic group living in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Turkish Kurds has raised up for autonomy since 1970. The Kurdish peace process has failed in 2015, which caused suicide bomb in Ankara. Besides the domestic problem, Turkey’s also facing risk from terrorist Jihadi Group Islamic states, which active mostly in its close neighbor Syria and Iraq, Kurdish militants are also involved in the war. Many political forces are intertwined in the area and situation is too complicated. Turkey’s at the forefront of fighting against IS, has also taken sides in the Syria civil war supporting the rebels. The warfare, even though not in Turkish territory could drag the country into social and political crisis. Turkey and Russia’s relationship has already been deteriorated. Russia support the Syria Assad Government. Turkey shot down Russian fighter jet for its violation of Turkish airspace. And Russia has started an economic sanction on Turkey, which would bring negative effects since Russia has been the one of Turkey’s main trading partner in the past.

Turkish Apparel Industry Main Products Cotton, Wool, Synthetic Fabrics

III. Sourcing

Textile and apparel are traditional industry in Turkey. They are the first established industries in Turkey and still has the largest share in Turkish industrial production. Their clothing and home textile industries are important to the world. The traditional Turkish patterns are favored around the world. Turkey has adapted modern technology for production, their workforces are skilled and qualified. They can produce a large range of products in very good quality. Turkey has well developed production on cotton, wool and man-made raw materials. For their textile production, a large amount is based on cotton. Many cotton production facilities are vertically integrated. Companies can take responsibility from fiber processing, spinning, weaving, dying, printing to finishing. They grow cotton domestically, mainly on the eastern Mediterranean coastal region. It’s the seventh in the world on production of cotton, which produced around 738 thousand tons in 2015/2016. In order to fulfilled the need, Turkey also has to import cotton from foreign countries, it’s also the fourth largest cotton importer in the world. Besides cotton, Turkey also have strong wool industry. It’s the world’s third largest mohair producer with fabric mills mainly located in Istanbul, Bursa, Adana, Denizli, Kahramanmaras, Izmir, Gaziantep, Tekirdag, Kayseri, and Usak. Many of them are major seaport cities too. Turkey also have a large capacity of synthetics fabric. It has large production potential on 100% polyester, and polyester blends with cotton, viscose, nylon, polyamide, wool and linen. Turkey has also adapted to the trend of healthier and moving towards of producing more environmental-friendly products.

Labor Law Turkey has a weak labor law, thus a weak labor union. The rights of the labors are not fully protected. At least 40% of the labor in workplace are suffering from long working hours, no overtime payment, unjustified termination and prohibition of leaving during work time. The government did start to intervene and make effort to eliminate child labors. In October 2012, the government has adopted new law on Trade Union and Collective Agreements, regulating the penalties’ on unlawful situation and improves worker’s right to bargain and organize strikes. However, more effort needed to be done to improve the efficacy of the labor market. Minimum wage in Manufacturing : 1500 TRY ($431.76) per month

Relationship with US Turkey’s relation with US is good. US continues to steadfast in its support of Turkey’s democratically elected government and its democratic institution. Turkey is an important security partner of US and had opened military base for US and member of Counter ISIL Coalition. As for Trade agreement, Turkey currently doesn’t have a free trade agreement with US. But They have a Trade and Investment Framework of agreement which provides strategic frameworks and principles for dialogue on trade and investment issues between US and Turkey. This agreement indicates the desire from both countries to the expand the economic markets. Under the agreement, a council is formed with representatives of both party to discuss further collaboration opportunities and any further issues relates to trade.

Export Turkey’s trading partners are mainly countries from European Union and its close neighbor countries from middle east area. Unites States is its 5th exporting partner and 4th importing partner, which took 4.5 % of the export and 5.4% of the import. In 2015, the total value of fabrics exported is around 5 billion dollars. Knitted, woven synthetic and woven cotton fabrics are the main products exported. Among them, woven fabrics of synthetic filament yarn took most part, with a 17.25% share, knitted fabrics are the second, which takes 8.14% of the share.

Export to US In 2015, the total value of products exported to US is around 6.4 million dollars. • Textile and Clothing is the second largest sector with 1.07 million dollars • Footwear is the 16th of the export, only takes around 8,000 dollars • The major exported product categories: Knitted or crochet Apparel and clothing accessories (33.76%) which include: T-shirts, Ssnglets, west (6.54%) Sweaters, pullovers, sweatshirts, waistcoat (5.44%%) Stockings, socks (2.28%) Non knitted or crochet Apparel and clothing accessories (20.86%) T-shirts, Singlets, west (5.42%) Women’s trouser, breaches (4.98) Men’s trousers, overalls, breeches (3.99%) Men’s Shirts (1.72%) Carpets & other textile floor covering (7.99%) Special Woven Fabrics, Tufted Textile and lace (7.04%) Man-made staple fibers (6.17%)

Transportation Turkey’s transportation and logistics sector is expanding rapidly; it has 20% growth rate since 2011. Government has doubled the investment budget from 20% to 40%. Eu’s funding Turkish transportation to promotes the trans-European networks. There are agreements being made in between EU and Turkey on the scope of core transport network. And Turkish government’s also building transport information management system to collect statistics and support decision making for drafting the national master plan for transpiration. China has also invested in Turkish transport infrastructure. The growth has been seeing, however, it’s current efficiency haven’t met Eu’s standard. It’s unable to absorb additional traffic. For international freight transpiration, air and sea are the common ways. For air transpiration, it has reached 1,851,289 tons of cargo in 2013, which is a 165% increase from 2002. Due to Turkey’s geographic location, which is bordering Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara, Turkey has an 8,200 km coastline, with more 450 sea ports and 220 among them are commercial used. The maritime transportation is important over 55% of freight are shipped out of the country. As for inland transportation, there are railway, road and inland water way. Among them, road transportation is used more. The railway need to be modernized and expanded. The waterway is a small network too.

Transportation Company Uni Logistics system Kucukbakkalkoy Mahallesı Kayısdagı Cad.no:137/10, Küçükbakkalköy Ataşehir, 34750, Turkey +90 532 295 65 96 Offers innovative logistics solutions for worldwide customers, not only between Turkey and other countries but also between different countries other than Turkey partnering with prestigious ship owners and a large network of agencies.

KITA Logistics Giyimkent Sitesi İstanbul Ticaret Sarayı Kat: 5 Oruç Reis Mh. No:108, Vadi Cd., 34235 Esenler/İstanbul, Turkey +90 212 410 41 41 KITA is a logistics company based in Turkey. In 1995, KITA has made a commitment to exceed the expectations of costumer in transport and logistics at all times through quality in people and services.

Logwin Logistics Logwin Air and Ocean Lojistik Hizmetleri ve Ticaret Limited Şirketi, 29 Ekim Cad. Istanbul Vizyon Park A-1 Plaza , Kat: 7 No: 71, Yenibosna, 34197 Istanbul +90 212 500-3461 Have partner in 16 US cities International logistics and transports. Air freight, sea freight or land transportation: Our employees can design, organize and monitor your supply chain. Moreover, customs clearance, quality management or other value added services are part of our activities.

Major Ports Ambarli Ankara Antalya Bursa Denizli Edirne Gebze Gemlik

Istanbul Izmir (Smyrna) Kayseri Mersin Samsun Tekirdag Trabzon

Lead Time/ Cost From Izmir, Turkey to New York, US 20’ ST - 1 mt Full Container Fitness Sportswear

Turkish ports distributes in four regions, divided base on the seas bordering Turkey. Among them, Marmara region has the post container ports and the largest capacities. The total capacity of container terminals us 11,085,000 (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit), and have the potential to increase to 21.6 million.

Aegean region Ports: Aliaga, Izmir, Karabiga, Asia-Europe shipping lines. 1,760,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit)

Mediterranean region Ports: Antalya, Iskenderun, Mersin, For shipping lines to middle east and central Asian countries. 2,720,000 TEU

Marmara region Ports: Ambarli, Bandirma, Gemilk, Istanbul, Kocaeli, Tekirdag Trans-Eruopean and Pan- European transport corridors to the countries in the east 6,100,000 TEU

Time Distance: 4840.35 miles Time at Sea: 14 days Total Transit Time: 23-32 days

Cost Road Haulage (TR): $ 150 Terminal Handling Service in Turkey: $ 360 Railway Transport in US : $ 102 Terminal Handling Service in US: $ 370 Port Fee in US: $ 160 Ocean Rates: $ 2163 - $ 3374

Total: $ 3305 - $ 4516

Black Sea region Ports: Bartin, Inebolu, Samsun, Trabzon For central Asian countries without sea connection to Europe 5,05,000 TEU 22

Main Suppliers Karbel Tekstil Dis Tic. Ltd.Sti.

Business Etiquette Karbel Konfeksiyon San.Tic. Ltd.Sti.

Address: Seyitnizam Mh., Şehit Er Ercan ÜzerSokak (G-4 Address: Yilanli Ayazma Yolu Mevlevihane Cd Sk.) No:5, 34200 Zeytinburnu/ İstanbul, Turkey No 5 Cevizlibag Istanbul Tr Contact: +90 212 482 1162 Contact: +90 212 482 3774 Main Product: Yarns, Knitting Yarns Arrival Ports: New York, New York New York/Newark, Port of Virginia Main Customer: Coats & Clark (Yarns) Peter Millar Llc (Men’s Shirt) Spinrite Lp (Hand Knitting Yarn)

Yesim Satis Magazalari Ve Tekstil Fabrikalari A.S. Address: Yenidoğan Mh., Gürsu Caddesi, 16000 Gürsu/ Bursa, Turkey Contact: +90 224 243 2350 Main Product: Cotton, Tank Top, Women Cotton Arrival Ports: Georgia Ports Authority, Savannah GA New York/Newark, New York, NY Main Customer: The Gap Inc. (Women’s Knit Tank Top) Burberry N.Y W/Sale (Women T shirt) Bb Vineland USA (Men Polo Shirt)

Main Product: Cotton, Shirts Arrival Ports: New York, New York New York/Newark, Port of Virginia Main Customer: Peter Millar (Men’s Shirt) Ledbury Llc (Men’s Shirt) Jones Global Sports. Llc (Men’s Shirt)

Finteks Tekstil Ve Hali Sanayi Ltd. Sti. Address: Ahmet Bayman Cad. No.18 Oto Sanayi Sitesi 4.Levent, Istanbul, Turkey, 34330 Contact: +90 212 317 9696 Main Product: Knit, Viscose, Spandex Ladies Arrival Ports: New York, New York New York/Newark, Main Customer: Nas Apparel (Raylon, Spandex Ladies) Potpourri Group Inc.

Greeting Shake hands for meeting Great the eldest or most senior first At social occasion, greet the people sit closest to you first and then introduce yourself anti-clock wise Commonly used greeting phrase : 'Asalamu alaykum' (peace be upon you) Nasilsiniz' (How are you?) 'Gunaydin' (Good Morning, pronounced goon-ay-dun) 'iyi gunler' (Good Day, pronounced ee-yee gun-ler) 'Memnun Oldum' (pleased to meet you).

Business Dinner Gift giving is not part of the business culture Dinner and sightseeing trips are common way to build relationship Do not offer alcohol if you are not 100% sure that they drink If invited to home, bring desert or decorative items like vase, if the host have children, bring some inexpensive candy and sweets. Business dinners are common No sharing bills If they paid for the dinner, it’s good to invite them to dinner of your choice later and pay for the bill Coffee, tea, and dessert is usually taken after dinner

Work Field Turkish likes to build personal relationship first than doing business Turkish people do not require much personal space, do not back away if they stands close to you, it will be seen as unfriendly They like to talk slowly in to the topic, kept mentioning it at the beginning would be seen as rude The first meeting should be more social and relationship building than business The decision making is slow, you may see the less senior number first and then introduced to the seniors if you are trusted A suite and tie is expected, women should dress respectively Use the first name to call Turkish people, but for men, followed with “bey” for women “hanim” Translate one side of your business card to Turkish will impress them Turkish people do not give out business card unless they wish to build business relationship When offered, take it with both hands. 24

Benefit Risk

IV. Risk & Benefit

• Political instability • Social Turbulence • Security Risk • Lack of Freedom of Speech • High economic deficit • Facing economic sanction • Crime Against Women • Pollution • Weak Labor Law • Weak Intellectual Property Right

• Enhanced international standing • Members of many international organizations • Strong Banking Sector • Stable public Finances system • Young Population dominate market • Government making effort towards labor law • Strong Information Communication Technology • Business Friendly environment • Government imposing Strong environmental policies • Progress towards renewable energy

Benefit for Sourcing From Turkey Textile and Apparel is the traditional and one of the first established industry in Turkey. They have experiences in it, and textile and apparel still take large share of Turkish export market. Their cotton, wool and synthetic market are mature and well developed. Factories are integrated; it’s convenient to source and manufactures in the same place. Turkey takes an important role in transportation. It controls shipping lines from Black Sea, Aegean Sea to Mediterranean Sea, which connects central Asia and Middle East to Europe. It’s easy to ship from Turkey to US, without have to go past a third countries’ port. Many factories are close to the ports cities too. They have well developed route to US port. And government has invested more to improve the transportation sector.

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