Ayhan Zeytinoğlu was re-confirmed as the Chairman of IKV’s Board of Directors at the occasion of the 56^th IKV General Assembly which was held on 30 July 2018. During the meeting, where founder and trustee organisations as well as the representatives from supporting organisations and delegates were present, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu delivered a speech regarding IKV’s activities between July 2017 and July 2018, also he thanked all delegates following his re-election.

At the opening of the General Assembly, TOBB Vice President Tamer KIRAN, ISO President Erdal Bahçıvan and ITO Vice President İsrafil Kuralay delivered speeches. Representatives of the trustee organisations indicated that the EU membership perspective comes more and more to the forefront and that IKV as "Turkey's EU expert" plays a critical role in this process.  Representatives of the trustee organisations recalled the important role of the EU in Turkey's foreign trade and foreign investment and emphasised the expectations of the business world towards revival of the EU accession process.

During his opening speech, while remarking that it is pleasing to see that Turkey-EU relations which have deteriorated recently are on the course of normalisation, Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that especially the visa liberalisation and the modernisation of the Customs Union could lead to a revitalisation.

Chairman Zeytinoğlu continued as follows: ”Consequently, the essential objective of the improvement in the relations is the realisation of full membership, which is our ultimate goal. Despite the existence of a considerable amount of opposition in the EU nowadays, we must remember the perceptions and decisions could change rapidly. In a world, in which we experience extremely rapid and dramatic changes in international conditions, Turkey’s EU membership may be possible in the middle term, provided that the necessary conditions are met and political will exists. At this point, as representatives of civil society and business world, we should closely monitor the EU and the world, examine the impacts of the developments in our country, and contribute to reaching EU norms and standards."

Finally, Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated the following: “First of all, on behalf of all our dear founder and trustee organisations’ and particularly TOBB’s valuable supports, as “Turkey’s EU expert”, we envisage to continue working hard with respect to our country’s relations with the EU and focusing on international developments from the perspective of the development, democratisation and integration of our country in the global system. We will strive to meet our challenges and provide benefits which are well beyond what is expected of us.”

IKV’s new Board of Directors is composed of Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, Prof. Dr. Haluk Kabaalioğlu, Zeynep Bodur Okyay, Atilla Menevşe, Yavuz Canevi, Zeynel Abidin Erdem, Sedat Zincirkıran, Ali Sami Aydın, Nevzat Seyok, Levent Taş, Mehmet Kaya, Ömer Gülsoy, Süleyman Uyar, Yavuz Altun, Işınsu Kestelli, Simone Kaslowski ve İsmail Gülle and the Audit Committee is composed of Hasan Hüseyin Coşkun and Mustafa İçöz.