On 22 March 2019, IKV Istanbul EU Information Center organised a panel entitled “Trade and Investment Relations: Turkey, the EU and Wider Europe”. IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, who delivered the opening speech of the panel, said that in the face of the tectonic changes taking place in the global system, the good relations between Turkey and the EU will create positive effects not only for Turkey and the EU but also for wider Europe.

Following the opening remarks, panellists held an in depth discussion on trade and investment relations. Speaking at the panel session, which was moderated by IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, First Deputy Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Ambassador Selim Yenel introduced BSEC. Yenel stated that BSEC consists of a geographic area of 20 million kilometres and a market bringing together approximately 340 million people from 12 countries and went on to say that in 1992 the organisation was established with high hopes in a completely different context after the end of the Cold War. Although the time has changed, the organisation is trying to find ways to gather the member states in various economic matters. Also, by saying that the organisation was established for economic purposes, he expressed that they tried to avoid political matters as much as they could. However, he pointed out that they had problems even in economic matters due to political conflicts. He clarified that the trade volume of the organisation was approximately 167 million dollars on an annual basis. He added that there were working groups coming together regularly yet those groups did not always work efficiently. In 2012, they had agreed on an economic agenda including three objectives: intensifying intra-regional trade and investments, cooperation among the customs and border crossing administrations as well as establishment of an efficient transport network.  By stating that the most important one of those objectives is transportation, Yenel expressed that on this matter there were initiatives such as the Black Sea Highway and Sea Highways from which they obtained positive results.

Taking the floor after Ambassador Yenel, Petros Sourmelis, Head of the Unit for Russia, CIS, Ukraine, Western Balkans, EFTA, EEA and Turkey at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade stated that it was significant to hold the meeting in Turkey since Turkey is interrelated both to the Western Balkans, Central Asia and the Middle East. Subsequently, he gave information on the relations between the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries. He also stated that thanks to the Customs Union, the EU has a unique relationship with Turkey. Recently, with the devaluation of the Turkish lira, due to the increase in Turkey’s export and decrease in imports, Turkey has more stable commercial relations, he added. Yet, even though modernising the Turkey-EU Customs Union would be beneficial, according to Sourmelis the Council resolution on this issue prevents it from being on EU’s agenda.

The Secretary General of the International Investors Association (YASED), Özlem Özyiğit who took the floor after Sourmelis, said that YASED represents nearly 85 percent of the direct investments of the international companies in Turkey. She also mentioned Turkey’s ambitious growth rate on the subject of export and its objective of becoming one of the biggest ten economies of the world and a regional hub in 2023. Moreover, she highlighted that the EU was the biggest trade partner of Turkey and Turkey was the fifth biggest trade partner of the EU.

Afterwards, Prof. Oktay Tanrısever from the Middle East Technical University pointed out that the region entitled Soviet Eurasia including Russia, Caucasia and Central Asia is significant for Turkey and those countries could also create great opportunities for the EU. Furthermore, he indicated that the cooperation between Turkey and EU member states in those countries could have a positive impact on Turkey-the EU relations. He emphasised the importance of TurkStream Project for Turkey and the Western Balkans. He explained that TurkStream would transform Turkey to an energy hub and contribute to the EU’s energy supply security.  

The last speaker of the Panel, Assoc. Prof. Emirhan Göral from Marmara University looked at the Eastern Partnership from a political perspective. He said that unlike the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership countries did not have a clear EU membership perspective. However, Ukraine and Georgia had the potential, he argued. In addition, he told that the two countries which had been profiting since 1960 due to their position as energy transit routes would lose their importance after the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream projects. Finally, he shared his views regarding Turkey’s bilateral relationship with EU member states emphasising the importance of solidarity between Turkey and Germany in order to solve the political process in Ukraine.