A delegation of interns from the European Commission’s DG Enlargement visited IKV on the 20th February 2014. IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, Research Director Melih Özsöz and Junior Researcher Yeliz Şahin along with the interns from IKV met the delegation of interns from the European Commission. IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas and Research Director Melih Özsöz informed the interns about the activities carried out by the Economic Development Foundation, Turkey-EU relations, the latest developments in regards to Turkey’s EU accession process, the visa issue and social entrepreneurship in Turkey.

In her presentation on IKV, Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas informed the delegation of interns on the historical background of the establishment of the foundation, the areas of expertise, the activities and projects carried by IKV. Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas then gave a presentation on Turkey-EU relations by retracing the historical perspective of Turkey’s EU accession process. She mentioned the latest developments regarding the opening of the new chapter on the Regional Policy and the Coordination of Structural Instruments. She also emphasized on the importance of the signature of the Readmission Agreement in December 2013 which enabled the launch the Visa Liberalization Dialogue that will pave the way for Turkish citizens to travel without visa to EU Member States. On the other hand, Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas also mentioned about the problems encountered in the current way of functioning of the Customs Union especially in regards to the free trade agreements signed by the EU with third countries.

During the presentation, Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas explained that Turkey’s success in concluding its accession negotiations would depend on the resolution of the Cyprus conflict, the political will of Member States, the support of the public opinion, EU’s integration capacity and Turkey’s efforts in reforms.

In his presentation on the visa problems, Research Director Melih Özsöz explained the legal, economic and human dimensions of the visa procedures applied to Turkish citizens wishing to travel to EU Member States. In his presentation, Melih Özsöz mentioned some legal cases such as the Demirkan Case and Soysal Case. In regards to the visa liberalization dialogue and the roadmap for visa liberalization presented to Turkey, Melih Özsöz stressed the importance that the EU should adopt Turkey the same approach as with the Balkan countries during this process. Following his presentation on the visa issue, Melih Özsöz also gave information on the social entrepreneurship in Turkey.

In the questions and answers section, Cyprus issue, the visa liberalization process, the Readmission Agreement and Turkey’s EU accession process were further discussed.