Moroccan-Turkish Relations: Current Issues and Future Prospects

January 14, 2021

The Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), in partnership with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM) will hold a joint panel entitled “Moroccan-Turkish Relations: Current Issues and Future Prospects” scheduled to take place on Thursday, January 14th, 2021 starting 3pm (GMT+1/Morocco time) and 5pm (GMT+3/Turkish time). Moroccan-Turkish economic ties are not new; the first partnership framework facilitating trade and economic relations dates back to 1982. Since then, the two economies have embarked on a series of cooperation agreements ranging from scientific, economic and technical cooperation to reciprocal investment promotion and protection. In particular, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Turkey and Morocco, which entered into force in 2006, aimed to eliminate tariffs and other barriers to exports, expand trade between the two countries, and to promote economic growth for both. The FTA marked a new era in the bilateral economic ties and confirmed both countries’ commitment to trade openness principles and the need to foster economic integration among southern Mediterranean economies. In addition to strengthening bilateral relations, the opportunities for both countries to consolidate their efforts in expanding their presence on the African continent calls for proactive and a joint strategy. Indeed, Africa’s economic development requires increased contribution from emerging powers for technology transfer and bring new alternatives for the continent, aside from traditional economic powers. Based on this background, this webinar will contribute to a better understanding and development of bilateral economic relations between Morocco and Turkey, in light of current international economic challenges and opportunities. 15:00-15:10 Opening speech Bouchra Rahmouni, Director, Research, Partnerships & Events, Policy Center for the New South Ahmed Uysal, Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies 15:10-15:15 Introduction to the panel Moderator : Rim Berahab, Economist, Policy Center for the New South 15:15-15:45 Debate Speakers Uri Dadush, Senior Fellow, Policy Center for the New South Burhan Koroğlu, Associate Professor, Ibn Haldun University Recep Yorulmaz, Director of Economics Studies, Middle Eastern Studies Center 15:45-16:15 Q&A

Speakers
Ahmed Uysal
Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies
...
Rim Berahab
Senior Economist
Rim Berahab is Senior Economist at the Policy Center for the New South, which she joined in 2014. She is currently working on themes related to energy issues and their impacts on economic growth and long-term development. Her research areas also cover trade and regional integration challenges in Africa. Previously, she has also worked on questions related to gender inequalities in the labor market of North African countries. Rim spent three months at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in 2016, in the Commodities Unit of the Research Department. She holds a State Engineering degree from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA). ...
Uri Dadush
Non-Resident Senior Fellow
Uri Dadush is non-resident Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, where he served as Senior Fellow from its founding in 2014 until 2022. He is Research Professor at the School of Public Policy, University of Maryland and a non-resident scholar at Bruegel. He is based in Washington, DC, and is Principal of Economic Policy International, LLC, providing consulting services to the World Bank and to other international organizations as well as corporations. Previously, he served as Director of the International Economics Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and, at the World Bank, was Director of the International Trade, Economic Policy, and Development Prospects Departments. In the private sector before that he was President of the Economist Int ...
Recep Yorulmaz
Director of Economics Studies, Middle Eastern Studies Center
...

RELATED CONTENT

  • Authors
    September 4, 2025
    This policy brief analyzes the first 100 days in office of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, which have been marked by an assertive foreign policy, ambitious security reforms, and a shift toward economic pragmatism. Merz has sought to reestablish Germany as a ‘leading middle power’, emphasizing closer European coordination, renewed transatlantic engagement, and unwavering support for Ukraine. However, his approach to the Gaza conflict, characterized by alignment with U.S. positions and rel ...
  • Authors
    September 2, 2025
    This paper argues that the Middle East has become the crucible of twenty-first-century imperial politics, exposing the collapse of legal universality and the resurgence of coercive empire. Through the archetypes of Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar, it analyzes how states invoke law rhetorically while practicing domination through siege, spectacle, and exclusion.The United States, China, Türkiye, Israel, Iran, the European Union, and the Gulf monarchies all oscillate between Hammurabian ...
  • Authors
    Fadoua Ammari
    August 28, 2025
    L’Initiative Atlantique, annoncée par le Roi Mohammed VI en novembre 2023, visant à offrir aux pays sahéliens enclavés un accès à l’océan Atlantique via le territoire marocain, promet de redessiner en profondeur la relation bilatérale entre Rabat et Nouakchott. Cet article examine comment ce projet inédit crée de nouvelles opportunités stratégiques tout en soulevant des défis partagés pour le Maroc et la Mauritanie. Sur le plan diplomatique, le rapprochement autour de l’Initiative A ...
  • August 28, 2025
    Alors que l’ordre mondial bascule vers un système multipolaire, l’Afrique se trouve face à un tournant décisif. Comment éviter la marginalisation et tirer parti de ses atouts stratégiques ? Entre partenariats concurrentiels des grandes puissances, montée du Sud global et élargissement d...
  • Authors
    Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos
    August 26, 2025
    The author of this opinion, Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos, is a 2013 alumna of the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leaders Program.On August 17, 2025, Bolivians did what once seemed unthinkable: they voted the Movement for Socialism (MAS) out of power, after almost two decades of dominance. For a country where last-minute surprises are the political norm, this outcome feels extraordinary. But the verdict is clear: MAS, the party that defined Bolivia’s politics for an entire generation, ...
  • Authors
    Cuong Le Van
    August 26, 2025
    This paper develops a continuous-time optimal control model to analyze the economic effects of the U.S. administration’s newly imposed “reciprocal tariffs,” which are determined by bilateral trade deficits. The model focuses on a small, open developing economy integrated into global value chains and facing limited policy space. We demonstrate how reciprocal tariffs, endogenously linked to the trade balance, affect production, consumption, capital accumulation, and overall welfare. W ...
  • Authors
    August 19, 2025
    The multilateral, rule-based trading system underpinned by the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been undermined by the unilateral imposition of U.S. tariffs. Crucially, the foundational principle of non-discrimination among WTO members has been abandoned. While many countries have attempted to negotiate with the U.S. to resolve tariff disputes, they have simultaneously sought to deepen trade ties with each other through plurilateral and regi ...
  • Authors
    August 19, 2025
    The international monetary system has been dominated by the U.S. dollar since the Second World War. The hegemony of the greenback cut across the end of the dollar exchange standard established by the Bretton Woods Agreement, and came out from the global financial crisis—and the euro crisis—even stronger than before. The euro area and China are taking steps to strengthen the international role of their currencies, but surmounting the inner strength of the dollar-based monetary system ...
  • Authors
    Sergio Queiroz
    Nicholas Vonortas
    August 18, 2025
    This Paper was originally published on springer.comBrazil went from a quite impressive economic performance during much of the twentieth century to a period of mediocre growth from 1980 onwards. This shift has positioned the country as a textbook case of the “middle-income trap”. This paper aims to demonstrate how certain transformations in the international economy since the 1980s—notably the globalization of firms and industries—combined with a set of domestic challenges, disrupte ...
  • August 18, 2025
    China's ascent to the position of the world's most prominent energy consumer has altered global energy markets and fundamentally reshaped the geopolitics of energy security. As China navigates the complexities of sustaining its economic momentum, ensuring access to reliable, affordable, and diversified energy sources has become an existential imperative, intricately woven into its foreign policy strategy. In parallel, Africa's immense wealth of both conventional and renewable resour ...