Ambassador of Spain to Turkey his Excellency Rafael Mendivil Peydro visited IKV on 16 October 2015. In his meeting with IKV Board Members, Turkey-EU relations and Spain’s support to Turkey’s membership process were the main topics discussed. 

In his opening speech, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu informed the participants about IKV’s research and assessed the current state of Turkey-Spain relations. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that Turkey is celebrating its 10^th anniversary of its membership negotiations and stressed that the support shown by Spain to Turkey’s EU accession process in that respect is of great importance.  

IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu implied that political relations between Turkey and Spain began with the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Trade in 18^th Century, and were revived as a result of Spain’s accession to NATO and EU.

Referring to the Alliance of Civilizations initiative in 2005 which was launched by the then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the then Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero within the framework of the United Nations, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that bilateral relations gained a new dimension thanks to the Turkey-Spain Intergovernmental Summit Conferences, the first of which were organised in 2009 in Istanbul.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu, mentioning the latest economic and commercial developments between the two countries, specified that bilateral trade volume rose from 10.7 billion dollars in 2013 to 10.8 billion dollars in 2014. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu remarked that there are 450 Spanish companies operating in Turkey and further indicated that in the 2002-2014 period while Spanish investments in Turkey amounted to 4 billion 946 million dollars, Turkish investments in Spain amounted to 136 million dollars.

Furthermore, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu stated that Spain is one of the most important markets in the EU and after having successfully recovered from the financial and economic crises of 2008, it has achieved positive growth in 2014. Moreover, he indicated that Spain is currently the world’s 14^th, the EU’s 5^th and the Eurozone’s 4^th largest economy. He further reminded that Spain has successfully completed in January 2014 the financial aid program which was presented by the EU.  

In addition, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu reminded that Spain which will be celebrating its 30^th Anniversary as an EU Member State next year is the greatest supporter of Turkey’s EU membership process. He further noted that the Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy chapter had been opened during Spain’s term presidency in 2010.

While stating the major contribution of EU membership towards Spain’s democratisation process, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated that Spain’s membership process can be taken as an example for Turkey.  He explained that one of the argument used by opponents to Turkey’s membership is the possibility of largescale migration of Turks to Europe following Turkey’s accession to EU and further recalled that this issue had also been mentioned during Spain’s membership process but he underlined that such migration did not effectively materialise. Indeed, in contrast he noted that many Spanish people had returned to their country following the accession of their country to the EU. Furthermore, he indicated that nowadays the largest number of Turks in the EU lives in Germany and that some of them have started to return to their country thanks to economic and democratic improvements.

In his opening speech, Spanish Ambassador His Excellency Rafael Mendivil Peydro referred to Spain’s EU membership process and indicated that its first application made under Franco’s regime was rejected and the process was not easy afterwards. He further explained that Spain made many concessions in order to become a member of the EU and social reconciliation has been the biggest support in this respect. Ambassador Peydro stated that in the beginning, all political parties in Spain were all supporting EU membership and more than 90% of the people that were coming out of a dictatorship supported EU membership. He emphasized that until Poland’s membership; Spain was the 1^st beneficiary of EU funds and was provided with substantial financial support from the EU.

Ambassador Peydro stated there are currently numerous issues on the agenda of the EU, among which the ongoing Euro crisis and discussions regarding Schengen. He further indicated that steps that have been taken as regards to refugee crisis are contrary to the Schengen spirit. Peydro thanked Turkey for hosting many refugees and said that this problem is not only Turkey’s or the EU’s problem but a humanitarian one and that it should be discussed within the framework of the UN Security Council.

Ambassador Peydro also touched upon economic relations between Turkey and Spain and highlighted that regarding trade, Turkey is a major partner for Spain following the EU, the US and Morocco. Moreover, Peydro pointed out that Spain will continue to remain the greatest supporter of Turkey in its process of EU membership.

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu thanked Spanish Ambassador Rafael Mendivil Peydro for his speech and stressed that he agrees that refugee crisis is a humanitarian problem first and foremost. He added that Turkey has received already 2.2 million immigrants and 1 million unrecorded immigrants are declared to be in the country. IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated that the refugee crisis and EU membership process have to be dealt with separately. IKV Board of Administration Member Zeynel Abidin Erdem shared an article from the journal “Halkın Sesi” (Voice of the Public), which was published on 5 July 1932. Indicating that Spain has been supporting Turkey for a very long time, Erdem also reminded that Spain backed Turkey’s efforts in joining the League of Nations.

IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, denoting that borders are protected and closed insofar as for immigrants not to enter EU Member States, asked how the EU will comply with the current crisis. Ambassador Peydro, saying that the EU is facing a very delicate subject, indicated that some of the countries are supporting the closure of borders, whereas others, defending that the closure is against the spirit of Schengen, oppose such a measure.