Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said Türkiye could not detach itself from either its neighbors or global supply chains, arguing that the right response to a more fragmented world was not isolation but risk reduction, diversification and stronger regional integration.
Şimşek was speaking at a panel titled “The Future of Economic Integration in a Fragmenting World” during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington.
Şimşek said the old global model had been built on a relatively stable geopolitical environment, but that this was no longer the case.
In that setting, he said, countries had to build a framework that could manage risks before they turned into full-blown crises.
“We cannot detach ourselves from either our neighbors or global supply chains,” he said, adding that Türkiye had to invest in lowering risks and broadening its opportunities.
Energy security was one of the clearest examples, he said, arguing that Türkiye’s exposure to developments in the Strait of Hormuz remained limited thanks to years of diversification.
He pointed to investments in LNG capacity and the country’s extensive pipeline network as the backbone of that strategy.
At the same time, he said new trade corridors would be needed in the coming period, with the Middle Corridor standing out as one of the most efficient options.
Şimşek also linked that argument to Türkiye’s latest infrastructure push.
He noted that Türkiye had signed a major financing package with the World Bank this week for a new rail link across the Bosphorus, part of a broader project meant to strengthen the country’s role as a logistics hub between Europe and Asia.
The World Bank said last month it had approved $2 billion for the Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project, which will create a new rail connection across the strait via the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge.
He said Ankara was also in talks with Iraq to reconnect the Gulf more closely to Türkiye’s infrastructure network, while stressing that investments in new corridors and supply chains should be seen as part of long-term strategic planning, not short-term reaction.
Türkiye, he said, had invested roughly $400 billion in physical infrastructure over the past two decades and now saw itself as a natural platform for risk reduction and production diversification in its region.
Şimşek also renewed his call for deeper economic integration with the European Union, while acknowledging that domestic politics in Europe had slowed progress.
He said Türkiye still wanted the Customs Union to be updated to include services, agriculture and public procurement, and argued that if political obstacles were removed, trade with Europe could easily double over the next 10 to 20 years.
The EU and Türkiye resumed their High-Level Economic Dialogue last year after a six-year break, with both sides saying they wanted stronger economic cooperation.
He said Türkiye did not have to choose between regions. With strong links to Europe and the West, and growing ties with Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Africa, the country could deepen its western ties while also expanding eastward and southward.
“We do not have to choose between regions,” Şimşek said.
