Chancellor Angel Merkel of Germany, which is the leading member state of the EU, visited Turkey on 24 January 2020. IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu assessed Merkel’s visit in terms Turkish-German ties and Turkey-EU relations and made the following statement:

“German Chancellor Merkel’s Turkey visit is of great significance. Not only is Germany a key country for our relations with the EU, but also our bilateral relations with Germany hold significance both in economic and political terms. Germany is our main export market in the EU. Moreover, German companies investing in Turkey enable our industrial production to take part within EU value chains. Even though these ties have recently weakened as a result of political issues, the two countries remain indispensable partners. It is vital for us to get Germany’s backing in Turkey’s EU accession process. In addition, at a time when geopolitical balances are rapidly changing, it is necessary to maintain cooperation and dialogue on issues such as ensuring security in the Eastern Mediterranean, stability in Libya and the future of Syria.”

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu also underlined the importance of Germany’s upcoming Presidency of the EU Council scheduled for the second half of this year:

“As it is known, Germany will assume the rotating presidency of the EU on 1 July 2020 and shape the EU’s agenda until the end of the year. We think that this period should be utilised in the most efficient way in terms of Turkey-the EU relations. The recent years have been marked by increasing tension in the relations and stagnation in the Turkey’s EU accession talks. Mutual efforts by Turkey and Germany would be extremely effective in overcoming these difficulties.”

Stating that priority should be given to launching the negotiations for the modernisation of the Customs Union, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu continued his remarks as follows:

“Receiving Germany’s green light will be decisive for launching the negotiations aimed at the modernisation of the Customs Union which constitutes an area that can create a win-win situation and mark progress towards a positive agenda in Turkey-EU relations. As insistently underscored by representatives from both European and Turkish business communities in all Turkey-EU High Level Economic Dialogue meetings, the negotiations for the modernisation of the Customs Union should be launched with no further delay. The modernisation of the Customs Union has a great importance for the economic and commercial integration between Turkey and EU. Furthermore, at a time of increasing global uncertainty and trade wars, it will enlarge the market for both sides, increase mutual profits and prevent one-sided trade and commercial advantages. Moreover, the realisation of visa liberalisation upon the successful fulfilment of the six remaining criteria, the resumption of the high-level dialogue meetings which constitute important dialogue channels between Turkey and the EU as well as addressing the reforms which could revive the accession negotiations, would make Germany’s EU term presidency more efficient for our country.”

Reminding that during Germany’s previous EU Presidency in 2007 three chapters were opened in Turkey’s EU accession negotiations, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu concluded his statement with the following remarks: “Germany and Turkey are two countries with strong historic, economic and social ties. Today, we see once again how important it is to cooperate regarding the developments in countries like Syria and Libya as well as on regional and international issues. As such, the Turkey-EU Statement developed upon the joint initiative of Germany and Turkey, clearly shows that we can cooperate efficiently in finding viable solutions to the mutual problems we face. For these reasons, Germany’s EU Presidency is an important opportunity for us to improve both our bilateral relations with Germany and our relations with the EU. If Turkey rapidly returns to the reform process, we can make the most of Germany’s EU term presidency.”