IKV organized a meeting titled "Türkiye-EU Relations on the 60th Anniversary of the Ankara Agreement and Prospects for the Future of the Partnership" in cooperation with TEPAV on 26 September 2023.

In the second of the series of meetings organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Ankara Agreement, which was signed on 12 September 1963 and constituted the legal basis of the relations between Türkiye and the EU, opening speeches were made by Prof. Dr. Halûk Kabaalioğlu, Vice-President of the Board of Directors of IKV and Elif Kurşunlu, Director General for Relations with the European Union at the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate for EU Affairs, while the meeting was moderated by M. Gökhan Kilit, IKV Deputy Secretary General.

IKV Vice-President Prof. Dr. Halûk Kabaalioğlu started his speech by emphasizing the importance and value of the Ankara Agreement. Pointing out that it is necessary to understand very well the period when the Ankara Agreement, which forms the basis of the current relations, was negotiated and signed, Prof. Dr. Kabaalioğlu said that both Türkiye and the EU are not the same as they were when the agreement was signed. Prof. Dr. Kabaalioğlu pointed out that Türkiye and the EU should use this agreement model wisely, as the Ankara Agreement is an indefinite agreement that can be extended in any kind and scope. Prof. Dr. Kabaalioğlu stated that the current problems between Türkiye and the EU, such as visa liberalization and the updating of the Customs Union, can be solved under the provisions and institutions of the Ankara Agreement. Underlining that it is vital for Türkiye-EU relations to closely follow the current changes and transformations in the EU, apart from harmonizing with the EU legislation, Prof. Dr. Kabaalioğlu stated that it is very difficult to update and develop the Customs Union without understanding the mutual sensitivities of both sides. Prof. Dr. Kabaalioğlu also stated that for Türkiye-EU relations to advance, progress must be made in the areas of democracy, human rights, rule of law, separation of powers and mechanisms of checks and balances.

Elif Kurşunlu, Director General for Relations with the European Union at the Directorate for EU Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate for EU Affairs, started her opening remarks by thanking all those who kept the Ankara Agreement alive, which is still a living treaty. The first point was that the ultimate goal of the Ankara Agreement was full membership, based on the stage accession debate. The second point was that the Association Council, which is the lifeblood of the Ankara Agreement, has not taken any decisions since 2007, and Kurşunlu emphasized that as a living part of Union law, it should be operational again. In particular, he added that the "strategic and forward-looking" report on Türkiye by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, due in June 2023, will shape the future of relations.

The first panel was titled "Legal Dimension: Legal Foundations of the Association Relationship, Problems and Possibilities" and was moderated by IKV Deputy Secretary General M. Gökhan Kilit. The first speaker of the panel, Prof. Dr. Sanem Baykal from TOBB University of Economics and Technology, stated that the Ankara Agreement, which is a framework agreement that forms the basis of Türkiye-EU relations, can actually provide a basis for solutions to existing problems through various Association Council Decisions, additional protocols and additional agreements, and that new dimensions can be added to the partnership relationship under the Agreement. Baykal underlined that she strongly opposed the re-negotiation of the Ankara Agreement and acknowledged that the Agreement had shortcomings or issues that could be revised according to today's conditions, but emphasized that a new model of relationship with the EU might not be able to replace the old one. Baykal also stated that the EU was also dissatisfied with certain aspects of the Ankara Agreement and would have demands in a new negotiation process.

The second speaker of the panel, Maltepe University Faculty Member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıldıray Sak underlined that the principle of good faith is very important in inter-state relations, but this principle is not followed in Türkiye-EU relations and gave some examples on the subject. In this respect, Sak stated that the Ankara Agreement envisaged three phases in Türkiye's EU integration, but the negotiations with the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland during the same period did not have such an approach and these negotiations were concluded quickly. Yıldıray also said that at the Helsinki Summit in 1999, the EU accepted the GCASC into the Union even though it had stated that it did not favor the membership of states with border disputes. Emphasizing that Türkiye also does not abide by this principle, Sak cited Türkiye's statements that the EP Resolutions are not binding as an example. Sak stated that modernizing the association agreement and developing a relationship between equals could be the solution to a relationship model in which the principle of good faith is so problematic.

The first speaker of the second panel titled "The Political Dimension: Diversifications in the EU's Foreign Relations, the Place and Potential of the Partnership with Türkiye", Nilgün Arısan Eralp, Director of TEPAV's Center for European Union Studies, stated that the EU has used enlargement and neighborhood policy to become a civilian and regional power, but it has not been able to achieve this goal due to the fact that the Union does not have a real defense policy and the foreign policies of the Member States are not always compatible with each other. Eralp emphasized that the EU is currently seeking a transition from soft power to military power, and the main reasons for this are the Russia-Ukraine war and the possibility of the re-election of a leader like Donald Trump in the US, on which it is militarily dependent. Eralp emphasized that the EU, which did not even invite Türkiye to the informal foreign ministers' meeting in such a process, is in a strategic blindness and stated that the EU cannot be a regional power without Türkiye.

The second speaker of the panel, Prof. Dr. Beken Saatçioğlu, Jean Monnet Chair at MEF University, stated that Türkiye-EU relations proceed along three main axes: the first axis is the Ankara Agreement, which established a partnership relationship between the parties and included the establishment of a Customs Union; the second axis is the developments that took place after Türkiye was granted candidate status in 1999; and the last axis is the strategic partnership relationship that we are increasingly seeing after the 18 March Memorandum. Underlining the necessity of updating the Customs Union, which is the first axis of relations, Beken said that issues that were not discussed at a time when the update discussions were intense have started to be brought before Türkiye in recent years and this has created mistrust. Beken underlined that the issues of absorption capacity and identity are no longer on the agenda in the accession process, which is the second axis of Türkiye-EU relations and attributed this to the fact that membership negotiations have effectively stopped. Finally, addressing the third axis of Türkiye-EU relations, Beken stated that the principles of democratic conditionality are no longer at the center of relations after the March 18th Memorandum, and instead, as seen in the cooperation on migration management, a retail approach that continues around interests is now dominant in relations.

The last speaker of the panel, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ebru Turhan, Faculty Member of Turkish-German University, stated that Türkiye-EU relations, which had reached an impasse in the past in the accession negotiations, have evolved into a transactional dimension today. Turhan stated that these transactional relations between Türkiye and the EU gained an important ground and formalization with the 18 March Memorandum and that after the memorandum, the relations were tied to some interest-based conditions other than the membership process. Another example Turhan gave in terms of transactional relations was the Eastern Mediterranean issue. Turhan underlined that the positive agenda offered by the EU was conditional on Türkiye implementing a more constructive foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean. Emphasizing that the aforementioned transactional relationship model is a temporary and easily forgotten form of relationship, Turhan stated that it does not seem easy to get rid of this transactionality in the near future, but at least rule-based principles should be added to this form. Turhan also said that there is not enough academic work on transactionality and that the gap in this area needs to be filled.

The last panel of the meeting was titled "Economic Dimension: Economic Aspects of the Partnership and Efforts to Update it". The first speaker of the panel, Yonca Özer, Head of Department of European Politics and

International Relations at Marmara University pointed out that the Ankara Agreement aimed at a gradual full integration for Türkiye and that the Customs Union was the most important tool for this. The Customs Union, which includes the four freedoms of movement of goods, services, persons and capital, seems to be a goal in the current relations. Özer said that Türkiye-EU transactionalism is in a vicious circle and that the only option to get out of this vicious circle is the Customs Union, which includes a principled transactionalism based on values and rules. Özer stated that the EU's changing economic and trade policy, especially after 2006, and the free trade agreements signed with third countries have rendered Türkiye's Customs Union with the EU inoperative in some areas and harmed Türkiye and emphasized that the Customs Union should be updated in line with the conjuncture and the future.

The last speaker of the panel and the meeting, IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Nas analyzed Türkiye-EU economic relations in two dimensions. In the first dimension, she stated that the nature of the partnership can progress through trade and economic relations, but this will again be realized with political conditionality for the EU. With the Carbon Regulation Mechanism at the Border and the Special Obligation Law to be adopted in the coming months, the EU will continue its trade and economic relations under the conditionality of compliance with EU rules, values and norms. In the second dimension, he emphasized that the EU, which is trying to realign itself in the new international system, is undergoing a tremendous transformation and changing its legislation, and that Türkiye should also take a position in this realignment. Nas said that the EU, which wants to benefit from the competitive advantage offered by advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, has determined new strategies for its economy, and underlined that Türkiye should follow the developments in the EU.

After the panels, the meeting moved on to the question-answer and general discussion section. Following the questions and discussions, IKV Deputy Secretary General M. Gökhan Kilit once again emphasized the importance and value of the Ankara Agreement and ended the meeting.