On May 30, 2019, IKV organised a meeting entitled “Assessment of European Parliament Elections and Turkey Report: What Future for Turkey-EU Relations?” in cooperation with Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF) and Turkey-European Union Association (TURABDER).

The opening speeches of the panel were presented by TURABDER President Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Alemdar and IKV Vice President Prof. Haluk Kabaalioğlu. IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bahçeşehir University Prof. Ebru Canan Sokullu, TEPAV Center for EU Studies Director Nilgün Arısan Eralp, Assoc. Prof. Özlem Kaygusuz from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Department of International Relations, and TURABDER President Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Alemdar took part as speakers during the panel which was moderated by Prof. Gül Günver Turan.

The first speaker of the panel, Assoc. Prof. Kaygusuz recalled that the EP elections were always identified around crises, and 2019 elections became more complex and multi-dimensional, especially under the influence of the Brexit process. She expressed that the awareness and mobilization of public opinion has also increased recently and, on the grounds of that, a 42% participation rate in 2014 could increase to 51% in 2019 elections.

The next speaker, Nilgün Arısan Eralp, started the speech by stating that the Parliament provides the legitimacy of the transnational status of the EU. Those factors such as migration, radical Islam, unemployment, economic situation, climate change and Russia are seen as common threats by European supporters and European sceptics; however, Eralp stressed that the priority rankings are different. Eralp stated that the election results have indicated the existence of those who are optimistic about the future of the EU.

Prof. Ebru Canan Sokullu said that despite the increased diversity in the EP, Turkey remained quite limited in its diversity in politics; therefore, the Turkish side would probably have difficulty finding interlocutors at the European side. In this sense, the biggest task that falls to Turkey is to convince the public about the EU and to follow a more intensive and proactive process.

Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Alemdar's speech drew attention to the votes gained by the innovative and dynamic political parties in the Member States. She said that with the change in the parliamentary system, political groups now have to agree and compromise with each other. She shared examples of regions where young, environmentalist and feminist movements gained importance. She also added that the future of the EU depends on how the parties will negotiate after the EP elections, which also have colourful and positive results.

The last speaker of the panel was IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, and shared some data about the 21st Turkey Report. She mentioned that the term "backsliding" was used 27 times in the report, and the Commission has detected "backslidings" in 13 areas in total. She argued that Turkey should go to reforms in both political and economic fields, and the EU should also take responsibility and be more proactive in this process over Turkey.