IKV organised a press conference on 12 November 2015 entitled “Turkey-EU Relations in the aftermath of 1 November General Elections and the 2015 Turkey Progress Report”. The press conference was hosted by IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu.

During the conference, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu assessed the 2015 Progress Report on Turkey which was released recently by the Commission. In this respect, he pointed out that Turkey-EU relations were passing through an important turning point, adding that the 2015 progress report included some new innovations. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu explained that the most important innovations of this report are the assessment of the level of harmonisation of candidate countries through more concrete criteria and the presentation of  a roadmap encompassing the steps that need to be taken by the candidate countries in the upcoming year.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu reminded that before the publication of the progress report Turkey-EU relations were revived in the context of high level meetings for the action plan on migration. In that respect, he explained that within the framework of asylum demands made to the EU, 32% of these demands were made in Germany in 2014 and that in the first 7 months of 2015, 37% of all asylum demands made at the EU level were from Germany. He further also stressed that Turkey has become the country hosting the largest amount of refugees as of the end of 2014 (1.6 million, 2.2 million in 2015) and added the importance of reaching an agreement between the parties with respect to the action plan on migration and for Turkey to be given the sufficient guarantees from the EU. Nevertheless IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu highlighted the importance of improving border controls and tackling more effectively human trafficking. Moreover, he also pointed out to the need of creating a system which would guarantee the rights of refugees in a sustainable way and of further strengthening the administrative capacity within the framework of laws such as the Law on Foreigners and International Protection which has been adopted in 2013.

Welcoming the adoption of a new approach by the Commission in its 18^th Turkey Progress Report, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu explained that with its new format, the report is more constructive. With its new methodology and format, this report constitutes the first example of the Commission’s new generation of progress reports. With this new format, the progress achieved by candidate countries is better assessed. The European Commission evaluates the level of alignment and recent developments that have taken place with regard to the specific acquis chapters at the beginning of each chapter. The level of progress is categorized as ‘good progress’, ‘some progress’ and ‘no progress’ while the level of alignment to the EU acquis is summarised in five categories as ‘early stage, ‘moderately prepared’, ‘some level of preparation’, ‘good level of preparation’ and ‘well advanced’. Moreover, the European Commission presents a set of measures to be taken by the candidate countries for further alignment to the EU acquis with regard to each negotiation chapter.

While in the report, the practices which go in contradiction with EU standards on human rights and democracy are criticized in the report, Turkey’s humanitarian approach to Syrian refuges has been praised. Regarding the fulfilment of the political criteria, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu explained that there are many points of criticism. In the report, there are there areas of concerns which are the following: Freedom of expression including media and freedom of internet; freedom of assembly and public procurement. On the other hand, the report highlighted the progress achieved in regards to the high turnout rate in the election, the public administration system and the presence of active civil society, the works carried out by the Ombudsman. In overall, although Turkey has reached a good level of alignment, it can be observed that Turkey did make sufficient effort in the last year in terms of its alignment process with the EU acquis. According to a study prepared by IKV, Turkey’s level of alignment has reached 61,2%.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu pointed out that Turkey has reached a good level of alignment in the chapters opened to negotiation. During the press conference, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu reminded the importance of opening Chapters 23 and 24 for to negotiations.

In his speech, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also underlined that Turkey is a strategic partner for the EU. He explained that in this respect, Turkey and the EU aim to reinforce their collaboration in areas such as energy, external and security policy, trade and irregular migration. Despite Turley’s importance for the EU, he pointed out that Turkey’s membership was not on the current agenda. However he stressed the importance of pursing the efforts towards Turkey’s EU membership. He explained that over the past few years, Turkey is moving away from EU reforms. Although the previous government has adopted an EU Action Plan, it did constitute a priority in Turkey’s reform process. In this respect, it is of utmost importance for the new government to reinvigorate Turkey’s EU access process by taking into account the roadmap presented by the new progress report.

With regards to the Cyprus issue, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu stressed the importance for Turkey to engage in talks with all parties involved in order to achieve a positive outcome within the framework of the ongoing negotiations. He also highlighted the need to lift the restrictions which affect directly areas such as freedom of press, freedom of expression and to prevent the introduction any new restrictions on these rights without the judicial and parliamentary supervision. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also added the necessity to prepare regulations ensuring the independence, effectiveness and impartiality of the judiciary: Furthermore, he stressed the importance of implementing the criteria included in the Visa Liberalisation Roadmap and of providing grounds for the lifting of the visa requirements for Turkish citizens travelling to the EU in 2017.

Finally, he underscored the need to accelerate the process of revision of the Customs Union and to further provide analyses in cooperation with the business sector giving information regarding the possible effects towards the various sectors.