Following the EU Leaders Summit which was held on 19 October 2017, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu evaluated the attitude adopted towards Turkey:

“Germany Chancellor Merkel made statements regarding the suspension of the negotiation process with Turkey during the European Council meeting. However, there was no majority in the European Council to support this discourse. No formal process was triggered to suspend Turkey-EU accession negotiations. It is a favorable result. On the other hand, it has been decided that the EU funds given to Turkey will be reduced. We can perceive this message as follows: It’s a warning from the EU to Turkey. We did not suspend the negotiations officially but we are not pleased with the current state of affairs. For now we are confining ourselves to cut some amount of the funds.”

IKV Chairman emphasised that the next six months will have critical importance for Turkey-EU relations to be improved and added:

“The EU and some of the Member States are responsible for the current state of relations with Turkey. But at this stage, we need to leave the previous mistakes aside and consider what can be done in the future. Therefore, the period of the next 6 months is critical. Until the European Commission’s next Progress Report which is prospected to be published in April, there lies a critical chance for Turkey to revive the EU process. As we always reiterate, we can revive the EU process by making reforms for Turkey and Turkish people. This can only be achieved by taking any steps forward in every negotiation area, from the rule of law to the adoption of good governance principles. The revitalisation of the EU process is also of critical importance in terms of stability and development. If we can take the steps which could affect the Report expected to be published in April positively, with the help of diplomatic efforts, we can put the relations with the EU which have been injured on the right track.”

Finally, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu assessed the attitude of the EU:

“The EU leaders and institutions know that Turkey is in an essential position for the European security. Europe cannot take the risk to lose Turkey. Similar to the EU process’ utmost importance for Turkey, it is also important for the EU to preserve close cooperation with Turkey. In this respect, it will be beneficial for us and our European friends to accelerate our relations with the EU by maintaining the participation perspective.”