On 22 October 2021, IKV organised a webinar entitled “Latest Developments in the EU Accession Process after the Turkey Report” within the scope of the INFL(EU)NCE Project. IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu delivered the opening speech of the webinar which was moderated by IKV Deputy Secretary General M. Gökhan Kilit. 

In his opening speech, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu provided information about his recent visit to Brussels where he met with European Enlargement Commissioner Várhelyi. Commenting on the Commission’s Turkey Report, Zeytinoğlu said that Turkey’s candidacy status was disregarded, and urged the EU institutions to take on more responsibility to accelerate Turkey’s EU accession process.  IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu concluded his remarks by conveying his expectation for concrete steps regarding the modernisation of the Customs Union.

Ambassador Başak Türkoğlu, Director General for Relations with the EU at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a keynote speech at the webinar. Referring to the Turkey Report, Ambassador Türkoğlu said that the 2021 Enlargement Package reflected the new methodology and criticised the current approach for putting the emphasis on the Western Balkans and ignoring Turkey’s EU candidacy status.

In the panel session, Cemre Kocabay Yoloğlu, Head of the Relations of the EU Branch at the International Relations Department of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation provided information on the "Environment"chapter of the Turkey Report. The second speaker of the panel, İpek Yalçındağ Dursun, Trade Expert at the Ministry of Trade gave a presentation on Turkey-EU trade relations and the Turkey-UK Free Trade Agreement. The third speaker of the panel, Kadriye Gül Yeşilkaya, Industry and Technology Expert at the Ministry of Industry and Technology, made a presentation on "Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments". The fourth speaker of the panel, Osman Cihan Selvi, Industry and Technology Expert at the Ministry of Industry and Technology talked about the EU budget and emphasized the importance of IPA funding especially for countries with a low GDP such as the Western Balkans. Speaking at the end of the panel session, IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas emphasized the need maintain the goal of EU membership, despite the unfavourable developments in political relations.