Turkey–United Kingdom relations
EU membership
The United Kingdom has been the strongest supporter for the Accession of Turkey to the European Union. The EU and Turkey are linked by a Customs Union agreement, which came in force on 31 December 1995. Turkey has been a candidate country to join the European Union since 1999. In 2010, the BBC reported Prime Minister Cameron's 'anger' at slow pace of Turkish EU negotiations. Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has historically been a passionate supporter of Turkey's EU aspirations. However, as a support of the UK's Brexit, he is arguing for Turkey - as the UK - to be outside the EU. As the fifth and eighteen largest global economies (by GDP) respectively, the UK and Turkey are also the second and seventh largest European economies.
Turkey–United Kingdom relations-13