On 3 June 2014, IKV Chairman Ömer Cihad Vardan, gave a speech at the seminar entitled “Turkey with its Micro and Macro Economy” in Ereğli. Alongside of Vardan, Mehmet Nuri Görenoğlu, Member of the IKV Executive Board Responsible for Accounts and Dr. Ömer Bolat, former President of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MÜSİAD) and CEO of Albayrak Holding spoke at the seminar which was moderated by the Chairman of MUSIAD’s Karadeniz Ereğli branch Ibrahim Sezer.

During the seminar, IKV Chairman Vardan gave information about the research and activities carried out by the foundation. In his speech Vardan, stated that the Schengen visa requirements for Turkish citizens are not only against Turkey’s integration with the EU, but also against the spirit of the European integration, itself. He made the following statement: “According to European Commission data, Turkish citizens have paid 140 million euro in total as an application fee for short-term C-type visas between 2009 and 2012. Germany introduced the visa requirement for Turkish citizens on 5 September 1980 as a temporary measure. However, this [the visa requirement], which was initially imposed as a temporary measure, has been in force for 34 years.”

Highlighting that in 2012, Turkey has ranked 5th among the countries paying the largest amount of money for Schengen visa applications IKV Chairman Vardan said: “140 million euro is just the amount paid for the application fee. There are also additional costs such as the fee paid to the intermediary agency etc. If you take these into account, then this amount increases by 2.5 or 3 times. Given the fact that this practice has been going on since 1980, you make the calculation for 34 years. The financial and moral burden caused by the visa procedure fuels the perception among Turkish citizens that ‘they have become subject to discrimination’ and this plays an important role in the decreasing the support for the EU membership process.”

IKV Chairman Vardan stated that as a representative of the business community their only wish with regards to the visa liberalisation dialogue is “the process to be managed fairly”, “for the EU to adopt an integrated and encouraging approach towards Turkey as in the case of Balkan countries”, “for the process to be completed as soon as possible with effective cooperation from both sides” and “the visa liberalisation to be realized”.