IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu issued a statement on the Turkey-EU High Level Political Dialogue which took place today. Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that with the continuation of political dialogue, both the EU reform process in Turkey and foreign and security policy will be positively affected. Zeytinoğlu continued as follows:

“It is significant that the Turkey-EU High Level Political Dialogue meeting took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere. Although there are differences in opinion, it is pleasing to see a will for cooperation and improving the relations. We support our Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chief Negotiator Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s emphasis regarding Turkey’s candidate status and determination on the opening of new chapters, the launching of the modernisation of the Customs Union and fulfilling the criteria for visa liberalisation. A motion provided in these fields and particularly accession process would be an important gain for the EU as well it would be for Turkey.”

IKV Chairman also commented on High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn’s statements:

“We find the open and constructive approach to cooperation which can be found in the statements of Mrs. Mogherini and Mr. Hahn, who represent the EU side valuable. While Mrs. Mogherini remarked Turkey as a candidate country and a strategic partner, Mr. Hahn uttered the close neighbour concept when describing Turkey.  The EU’s executive body, the guardian of treaties Commission should especially follow Turkey’s EU candidacy and negotiation process. Again, we consider positive these two officials’ emphasis on Turkey as a stable, democratic and prosperous country and the cooperation in the foreign policy and security problems in nearby geography.”

“We Should Focus on the Positive Role Turkey can Play in the EU’s Future”

Lastly, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu expressed his wish for the continuation of the high level dialogue process between the EU and Turkey and declared that he hopes these processes would have positive implications for processes such as accession negotiations, the modernisation of the Customs Union and visa liberalisation:

“The high level dialogue mechanism with the EU in fields such as politics, economy and energy demonstrates that the relations are getting normalised. However we should go beyond this and work on concrete projects and programmes without further loss of time. First of all, the reform steps mentioned in the results of the Reform Action Group in August and the realisation of judicial reform will be an important step to take. Following this, the resumption of negotiations blocked by the EU, in particular the opening of chapters 23 and 24, the start of negotiations for the modernisation of the Customs Union and the completion of visa liberalisation remain the next targets. It goes without saying that the EU that Turkey is a part of would become more powerful in both immediate surroundings and globally. On the other hand, we should also closely monitor the process that the EU is going through. The strengthening of the far-right in many EU countries including Germany and the weakness of the central parties show that these groups will be effective in the EP elections next May. Following the Brexit process, the EU needs to reform its own institutional structure and make it more effective. All these processes and the increasing influence of countries such as China and Russia make the tests that the EU is facing more difficult. In the face of this situation, what we should do is to explain that Turkey would not be a problem for the EU but rather that it will be a gain and we should assert the positive role Turkey can play in the EU’s future.”