IKV assessed Turkey-EU relations at several events organized by Konya Chamber of Industry (KSO) and Konya EU Information Centre on 15 March 2016.

IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, IKV Senior Researcher Selen Akses and IKV Junior Researcher Ahmet Ceran came together at a working breakfast with representatives of NGOs and local public authorities working on Turkey’s EU accession process and EU projects. At the meeting, the main topics discussed were the recent developments in EU-Turkey relations mainly the refugee crisis and the visa liberalisation dialogue.

After the meeting, IKV delegation visited organized industrial zones in Konya in company with KSO officials. During the visit, they met General Manager of Konya Technology Development Zone Management Innopark Prof. Dr. Fatih Mehmet Bostalı.

IKV organized a seminar entitled “A Horizon Tour on EU-Turkey Relations: New Dimensions, New Objectives” in cooperation with KSO and Konya EU Information Centre. At the seminar, recent developments in EU-Turkey relations, the revision of the Customs Union, the visa liberalisation dialogue and Turkey-EU Readmission Agreement were discussed.

In his opening speech, KSO Secretary-General M. Sedat Taşkazan emphasized the opening of new chapters to negotiations and the revision of the Customs Union. Following the opening speech, the first speaker of panel, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas revealed information on the steps and current situation in the Turkey-EU negotiations process and the challenges ahead in Turkey-EU relations.

Assessing the current state of play in the negotiations, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Nas drew the attention to the slow pace of the negotiations process. However, she also explained that the signature of the Readmission Agreement and the decision to modernize the Customs Union gave further impetus to Turkey-EU relations. She also stated that without doubt the refugee crisis would constitute an important item of Turkey-EU relations’ agenda in the upcoming periods.

In her presentation, IKV Secretary-General Assoc. Prof. Nas also touched upon how the EU was perceived in the Turkish public opinion and about some common misperceptions. In this respect, she referred to the results of a public opinion survey was conducted under IKV activities which aimed at identifying the level of information and awareness among the Turkish public opinion on EU and further analyzing the support for Turkey’s EU membership. According to the results of the survey, While 4 out of 5 respondents to the survey have stated that they have heard of the EU before, 85% of respondents declared that they have “none” or “a little” knowledge of the EU.  The survey also shows that although 61.8% of the Turkish public opinion supports Turkey’s EU membership, only 30% of the respondents believe that Turkey will become a member of the EU.

In her presentation, IKV Senior Researcher Selen Akses informed the participants about the need to update the Customs Union and the process which awaits Turkey.  In this respect, Senior Researcher Akses pointed out to the problems encountered within the current way of functioning of the Customs Union and the need arose to upgrade the Customs Union. The need to revise the framework and the scope of the Customs Union has arisen especially due to changes in the world trading systems and also in Turkey and EU’s economic and trade interests.  

IKV Senior Researcher Akses stressed that although Turkey has to align its trade policy with the EU’s preferential trade regime; Turkey is not included in the decision-making process and the negotiations conducted by the EU with third countries. This creates an asymmetric situation in disfavour of Turkey. These concerns have increased following the launch of the TTIP negotiations between the EU and the US.

At the meeting, IKV Junior Researcher Ahmet Ceran gave a presentation regarding Turkey-EU Visa Liberalisation Dialogue and the refugee crisis faced by the parties. In his presentation, IKV Junior Researcher Ceran informed the participants about the 72 criteria that need to be fulfilled by Turkish authorities for Turkish citizens to access the EU visa-free. He also assessed Turkey-EU Summits held on 29 November 2015 and on 7 March 2016 during which dates for the visa- free travel have pronounced. While the date for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens was set for October 2016 at the first Summit, the date has been advance to June 2016 during the second Summit.

Moreover, IKV Junior Researcher Ahmet Ceran referred to different dimensions of visa problem. In this respect, he shared the results of the research and analysis carried out by IKV regarding the economic and humanitarian dimensions of the visa problem. Lastly, he drew attention to the importance for Turkish business world, civil society and public opinion to put pressure on EU decision-makers relating for the lift of visa obstacles against Turkish citizens.