The European Commission published its 2023 Enlargement Strategy and annual reports for candidate countries. In this context, the Commission proposed the opening of accession negotiations for Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, while Georgia was offered candidate status. The final decision will be taken by the European Council. The report prepared for Türkiye draws attention to significant regressions in the areas of political, economic and acquis alignment. The report, which also touches upon the Cyprus issue, states that Türkiye’s foreign policy alignment with the EU is at 10%. The report emphasises that harmonisation is good in areas such as corporate law, transport and taxation, but draws attention to important problems in the Copenhagen criteria.

IKV Chairperson Ayhan Zeytinoğlu made a statement about the subject and said:

“Within the scope of the 2023 enlargement strategy, the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina and the proposal to grant candidate status to Georgia are promising for the revival of the EU enlargement process. However, the lack of any revival in Türkiye's EU accession process and the fact that relations with Türkiye are indexed to the Cyprus problem are extremely thought-provoking. The EU's approach towards Türkiye appears to be exclusionary and does not offer a perspective for improving relations with Türkiye, except for the migration and refugee issues. While the report draws attention to the problems in Türkiye, it does not mention the obstacles in Türkiye's accession process due to the Cyprus issue, the problems caused by some member states and the shortcomings arising from the EU. In this framework, one of the most important things Türkiye needs to do is to take serious steps especially in the field of law, judiciary, fundamental rights and freedoms, and to revitalise the reform process. The criteria that the EU expects from candidate countries coincide with universal values. In that respect, progress in this direction will have positive results in terms of Türkiye's democratization, economic development, raising living standards and strengthening the country.”

Green and Digital Agenda Proposal Between Türkiye and the EU

Chairperson Zeytinoğlu stated that a separate report is being prepared, which is expected to include suggestions for the future of Türkiye-EU relations, and emphasized that this report, which will be prepared by the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, will be announced in the coming months. Chairperson Zeytinoğlu continued his speech as follows:

“This year, upon the instruction of the EU Council, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security will prepare a separate report on the future of Türkiye-EU relations. We expect that there will be positive suggestions in this report. As IKV, our commitment to the goal of full EU membership continues. An alternative that would replace Türkiye's goal of full membership in the EU process is unthinkable. However, in order for the process towards this goal to be revived, conditions must change. As IKV, we had a proposal under the title of "Green and Digital Agenda" to prevent further deterioration in Türkiye-EU relations. This proposal aims to increase cooperation and harmonise Türkiye with the changing acquis, norms and standards in the European Green Deal and digitalisation processes, which are the EU's top priority areas and which have created significant changes in the internal market and the EU economy. It is of great importance that Türkiye and the EU can work together in these two areas, which are prioritized all over the world. The Türkiye-EU green and digital agenda could also be a saviour for the future relations".