IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu made a statement following the recent declaration of Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn foreseeing the ending of accession negotiations with Turkey.

IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu considered such statement coming from the European Commission as an institution which normally supports Turkey’s membership process as an extremely unfortunate development and continued his words as follows:

“I found the statements of Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn given to Die Welt newspaper really unfortunate. It was stated that the accession process with Turkey should be ended and a new process should be developed instead of it. Up until now we have heard of the suspension claims from some Member States such as Austria. However European Commission that is the EU’s executive body displayed an attitude in favour of continuing the negotiations.  When European Commission’s latest Turkey Report was published in April, a message that the door is open for Turkey depending on fulfilling the criteria was given. The Commission has an exclusive status in the EU. We have been saying that it is the protector of the EU law and ‘Guardian of the Treaties’. Therefore, a statement which does not take institutional and legal aspects of the relations with Turkey from such an institution is highly concerning”.

“Turkey already is a Partner Country of the EU. There is No Alternative for Full Membership”

While stressing that any alternatives falling short of full membership is unthinkable for Turkey, Chairman Zeytinoğlu continued his words:

“Commissioner Hahn proposes that the accession talks should be cut off and a different kind of relationship should be put forward, which brings to the minds, models such as “privileged partnership” and ”strategic partnership”. We have been hearing about these proposals from time to time since 2004. However, nothing significant has been suggested regarding the relationship model called privileged partnership. Turkey is already a partner of the EU fundamentally by means of Ankara Agreement. After all this time, full membership is the only aim for Turkey. There is no alternative for that purpose. Ranging from the fight against terrorism to foreign policy, trade to energy, the ideal partnership on many issues the EU needs Turkey for, can only be realised by Turkey's EU full membership perspective. If the membership perspective is taken away, Turkey’s view and approach towards the EU would change.”

“Hahn’s Statement Reminds that We have to Advance in the EU Process without Further Loss of Time”

While remarking Commissioner Hahn’s statement as a fact of concern for Turkey, Chairman Zeytinoğlu concluded his words as follows:

“Statement regarding the termination of Turkey’s accession bid made by an authority responsible for conducting enlargement talks is worrying. It demonstrates that we, as Turkey, should take steps to revitalise the process without further loss of time. Our accession negotiations with the EU have not been advancing for 2 years. We cannot tolerate losing 2 more years anymore either. We should aim to put the EU process back on track by taking steps including legal reforms as well as diplomatic attempts.”