Türkiye’s Permanent Delegate to the European Union Faruk Kaymakcı expressed hope for a revival of relations between Türkiye and the EU, but he criticized what he called a “lack of vision” within the EU in terms of Türkiye’s membership.
Türkiye announced interest in reviving the stalled process last summer, but a scathing report by the European Parliament, which seemingly opposed a full membership, put a new obstacle on the path of accession. Ankara complains that Türkiye fulfilled most of the criteria for the membership.
“Türkiye is the most valuable country for EU membership. EU lacks vision if it does not consider this,” Kaymakcı told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday. He said Türkiye and the EU had important meetings in October and November and the likelihood of a revival was more possible.
Kaymakcı pointed out that several factors like post-COVID-19 economy recovery, elections in Türkiye and Greece, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the need for “interconnectedness,” and green and digital transformation gave an opportunity for revival. He said the EU took the expansion of the bloc more seriously again, especially for Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova. He said Türkiye has been a “candidate country” since 1999. “We witness a selective memory process in recent talks about expansion. Some people forget Türkiye’s status,” he said.
He underlined that Türkiye should be treated fairly and equally like other candidate countries. “Once this is done, Türkiye will accelerate its reform process (for EU membership).”
He stated that a new era began in the relations at a time of relaxation of tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and two meetings of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Both countries expressed interest in putting a hostile past behind them and that a high-level meeting between the two neighbors is planned for the next year. Greece was among the countries opposing Türkiye’s membership in the past.
EU is ready to engage with Türkiye toward a “constructive relationship for shared prosperity and stability,” an EU official said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters at the European Commission’s daily news briefing, Ana Pisonero, spokesperson on enlargement, confirmed that the EU “has a strategic interest in continuing with the cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with Türkiye and all of its people.”
She reaffirmed the bloc’s readiness “to engage with Türkiye to advance towards a constructive relationship for shared prosperity and stability” built on “commitments to human rights, the rule of law, international law and stability for the benefit of all of our citizens.”
Pisonero also underlined that the EU-Türkiye cooperation supports a “stable, secure environment in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Following the request of the EU leaders’ summit in June, the European Commission is currently working on a “report on the state of play of EU-Türkiye relations” that will be published later this autumn, she added.
Türkiye applied for EU membership in 1987, and its accession talks began in 2005, but the Council of the EU, the EU institution representing member states, decided to suspend negotiations in 2018.
According to Ankara, talks have been frozen due to political roadblocks by certain EU members for reasons unrelated to Türkiye’s suitability for EU membership.
“If they reverse their injustices, especially the visa imposition, which they use as a veiled sanction on us, they will correct their own mistakes,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a speech on Sunday, referring to a 2016 promise by the EU under a migrant deal to lift the need for Turkish citizens visiting EU countries to get visas.
“If they do not (reverse these), they will completely lose the right to expect anything from us politically, socially, economically, or militarily,” warned Erdoğan.
Although EU leaders have changed over the years, there has been no change in the “biased attitude of the EU towards Türkiye, which is unfair and incompatible with the principle of pacta sunt servanda,” or agreements must be kept, he added.
“Türkiye has no expectations from the EU, whose door we have been kept waiting at 60 years,” he said.
