IKV, in cooperation with TEPAV, organized a meeting titled "Ankara Agreement on its 60^th Anniversary: The Roadmap of Türkiye-EU Relations" on 21 September 2023. In the first of the meeting series held on the occasion of the 60^th anniversary of the Ankara Agreement, which was signed on 12 September 1963 and forms the legal basis of the relations between Türkiye and the EU, the opening speeches were made by TEPAV Founding Director Assoc. Prof. Güven Sak, İKV Chairperson Ayhan Zeytinoğlu and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay. 

In his speech, TEPAV Founding Director Assoc. Prof. Sak stated that the timing of the meeting was very correct and underlined that we need to talk about and understand the Ankara Agreement better today. In his speech, IKV Chairperson Zeytinoğlu briefly explained IKVs activities and then emphasized the importance of the Ankara Agreement in terms of Türkiye-EU relations and stated that the second leg of this meeting meeting will be held on 26 September 2023 in İstanbul. Before ending his speech, Zeytinoğlu shared with the participants the results of the public opinion survey conducted by IKV and the MetroPoll research company with the support of TİM. 

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay discussed the current developments in Türkiye-EU relations in his speech and stated that the twin transformation that the EU is currently implementing is an industrial strategy and Türkiye should not fall behind it. Reminding that the EU was the first to come to aid after the earthquake disaster experienced in Türkiye, and that resources and teams were quickly mobilized for our country, which is a part of the Civil Protection Mechanism. Ambassador Bozay said that after the elections in Türkiye, the new cabinet defined the EU as the most important strategic partner. Stating that the EU side should also make efforts in our relations with the EU, Bozay stated that our ministers will visit Brussels for high-level dialogue meetings in various fields in the coming period and that this is important for the development of relations. 

The first speaker of the panel session, moderated by Yusuf Işık from TEPAV, was TEPAV EU Studies Center Director Nilgün Arısan Eralp, who stated that Türkiye-EU relations have experienced ups and downs since the beginning, but whenever the relations reached an impasse, a step forward was always taken. Eralp stated that Türkiye has significant shortcomings in the recent state of Türkiye-EU relations, but the EU has also made major mistakes. Eralp said that especially during the Sarkozy period, not raising a voice against Türkiyes membership on identity grounds, making the GCASC a member without solving the problem, not reacting to the arbitrary blocking of accession negotiations by France and the GCASC, and the previous criticisms in the field of fundamental rights were put on the back burner when the EU was dependent on Türkiye in the last refugee compromise, which caused great damage to the relations. 

In her speech, IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas began her speech by describing the Ankara Agreement as a pre-accession agreement and stating that we should benefit from all the opportunities of the partnership relationship based on this agreement. Assoc. Prof. Nas pointed out that while various aspects of Türkiye-EU relations are being discussed today, there is no discussion of moving the partnership relationship further between the parties, and stated that this situation is gradually causing the institutional memory to disappear on both sides. Assoc. Prof. Nas reminded that Türkiye needs serious reforms in order to improve relations with the EU. 

The other speaker of the panel, Prof. Dr. Sanem Baykal, Faculty Member at TOBB ETU, started her speech by emphasising the dynamic structure of the Ankara Agreement, which despite the 60 years that have passed, contains articles that can still be activated today and at the same time need to be revised, and stated that the discussions within the EU should be closely monitored today, especially on enlargement and the reshaping of the institutional structure. 

The last speaker of the panel, Retired Ambassador Oğuz Demiralp, Secretary General of the EU for the period 2005-2009, stated that Türkiyes EU membership target should firstly adopt basic values such as democracy and human rights in order to increase its own welfare and living standards, and that the importance of reforms for our own citizens today should be explained and understood, and that only in this way Türkiye will be more credible in the eyes of the EU.