IKV’s 52^nd General Council took place on the 26^th December 2014. The General Council was chaired by Vice President of ITO Gökhan Murat Kalsın and ITHIB Chairman İsmail Gülle. IKV Chairman Ömer Cihad Vardan made the opening speech of the General Council retracing the activities carried out by the foundation in the course of 2014.

Reminding the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of IKV in 2015, Vardan said that “we consider this anniversary as an opportunity to further revitalise Turkey’s EU process”. Vardan added that, 2014 was a year in which there were novelties in both Turkey and the EU which constitutes an opportunity for both sides. Indeed while Turkey witness the election of new President of the Republic, the establishment of a new government and of the appointment of a new Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator, the EU also faced the election of a new Commission and Parliament.

IKV Chairman also announced that in 2015 IKV would focus on areas such as the accession negotiations, the visa liberalisation dialogue process as well as the Readmission Agreement and the Customs Union, free trade agreements as well as the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations between the EU and the US.

Furthermore, in a further allusion to the 50^th anniversary of the establishment of IKV, Vardan emphasised that as a civil society and research organisation which has been following EU affairs for 50 years in Turkey, IKV has successfully worked on EU affairs and Turkey-EU relations thanks to the support of TOBB along with IKV’s founding organisations ITO and ISO as well as all of its trustee organisations. In his speech, IKV Chairman Vardan stressed that IKV would continue to contribute to the revitalisation of the EU accession process. Chairman Vardan added that in the course of 2015, more emphasis will be given to the organization of visits in EU Member States.

At the General Council, on behalf of TOBB, TOBB Vice President and Chairman of Istanbul Commodity Exchange Ç. Ali Kopuz, ITHIB Chairman İsmail Gülle and TIM Deputy Chairman Mustafa Çıkrıkçıoğlu made also speeches respectively. In their speeches, emphasis was put on the importance of pursuing the EU objective and IKV’s role as a primary source of information on EU Affairs for the business world.

TOBB Vice President Ç. Ali Kopuz stressed the importance of the business community’s support on Turkey’s accession process. In this regard, he explained that the EU is above all an economic integration project. He thus emphasized the need to well prepare the Turkish business community to EU membership especially by raising more awareness on this issue.

As for TIM Deputy Chairman Mustafa Çıkrıkçıoğlu, he stressed that since its foundation, IKV has assumed a key role in the development of Turkey-EU relations. In his speech, he also referred to the latest positive developments in Turkey-EU relations such as the publication of Turkey’s new EU Strategy and renewed progress in the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue. Çıkrıkçıoğlu pointed also out to the potential effects of the ongoing negotiations of the TTIP process between the EU and the US.

As for ITHIB Chairman İsmail Gülle, he thanked IKV as its important role in further strengthening Turkey-EU relations for the last 50 years. He further stressed that Turkey’s economic integration with the EU has nearly been completed. In addition, Gülle gave information on the trade relations between Turkey and the EU in regard to the textile sector. Moreover, Gülle also mentioned the problems related to the Customs Union and the potential effects upon Turkey of the EU’s free trade agreement with third countries. In that respect, he stressed the importance for Turkey to have a voice in the decision making process of the EU’s trade policy.