Eduard Soler i Lecha - "Spain and Turkey: Can Relations Further Widen and Deepen?" The tenth edition of the Turkey Policy Brief Series is authored by Eduard Soler i Lecha, Research Coordinator at CIDOB, Barcelona Center for International Affairs.

"During the past few decades, Spain-Turkey relations have experienced a substantial positive change in several areas including political dialogue, economic partnerships and socio-cultural linkages. The establishment of high-level political summits since 2009 and the blossoming of bilateral trade and foreign direct investment in the last decade are clear examples of this trend. This process has taken place in the context of mutual commitment between the two countries to the transatlantic alliance, their Europeanization processes and an impressive internationalization of both countries’ economies.

Even if contemporary relations between the two countries have never been as strong and robust as they are right now, there exists room for widening and deepening them. The primary goal should be to make Spain-Turkey relations less dependent on political circumstantial impetus by decision-makers and less structured around limited corporative interests."