Turkey is in talks with the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq about possible strategic partnerships for its stock exchange in Istanbul, Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday.

Turkey is in the process of merging the Istanbul Stock Exchange, the Gold Exchange and Derivatives Exchange into Bourse Istanbul - an important step in the government's bid to privatise the company and create a regional financial hub.
 
"We are holding talks with London and Nasdaq for strategic partnerships on Bourse Istanbul," Babacan told reporters at a conference in Istanbul.

Bourse chairman Ibrahim Turhan said last year that the company wanted to decide on future strategic partners by the middle of this year and that other bourses, technology firms, sovereign wealth fund managers and investment banks were interested.