Türkiye expects the European Union to handle its enlargement policy more seriously and act more encouragingly towards candidate countries, Deputy Foreign Minister and Director for EU Affairs Faruk Kaymakcı said.

Kaymakcı told Daily Sabah in an exclusive interview that Russia's war on Ukraine has increased the need for enlargement in both the EU and NATO.

"While Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova applied for EU membership. There are currently 10 potential candidate countries waiting to join the EU," he said. Kaymakcı also drew attention to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's recent call for a bigger EU. "I am committed to the enlargement of the EU. That the EU continues to grow eastward is a win-win for all of us ... An EU with 27, 30, 36 states, with then more than 500 million free and equal citizens, can bring its weight to bear even more strongly in the world," Scholz said last week.

The diplomat noted that the issue of enlargement was brought to the agenda by Türkiye and other candidate countries during the recent European Political Community summit.

"Türkiye expects that the enlargement policy should be considered more seriously and candidate countries must be treated more encouragingly. The EU should pave the way for Türkiye's membership and this overdue process should come to a positive conclusion. We hope that the next period will be a period when enlargement will be handled more seriously and candidate countries will be treated equally.

"As the best equipped, most prepared and most experienced candidate country, Türkiye can accelerate this process, as long as there is equal treatment and biases are set aside," he said, urging the EU not to dismiss a relationship as strategic and important as the one with Türkiye due to the narrow-minded expectations and ambitions of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration.

Kaymakcı also noted that the EU enlargement commissioner will visit Türkiye soon and announce the "Turkey Investment Platform," which can lead to important projects in the field of green and digital development. According to the deputy minister, a high-level dialogue meeting on the field of innovation and research will be held on Nov. 15.

Türkiye-EU relations are marked by disputes on several issues, including tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Türkiye's role in Syria, the migrant crisis and the stalemate in Türkiye's accession process to join the bloc. However, Türkiye has recently reiterated that it is part of Europe and sees its future in the EU, adding that it will continue to work toward full membership. Ankara is calling to reenergize the accession process and update the Türkiye-EU Customs Union as it advocates for regular high-level dialogues, visa liberalization and further counterterrorism efforts.

Türkiye has the longest history with the union and the longest negotiation process. The country signed an association agreement with the EU's predecessor in 1964, the European Economic Community (EEC), which is usually regarded as a first step to eventually becoming a candidate. Applying for official candidacy in 1987, Türkiye had to wait until 1999 to be granted the status of a candidate country. For the start of the negotiations, however, Türkiye had to wait for another six years, until 2005, a uniquely long process compared with other candidates. In recent years, the accession process seems stalled.

'EU is not a court'

Also commenting on the EU's stance on the recent escalation in Türkiye-Greece tensions, Kaymakcı underlined that "the EU is not a court" for the resolution of bilateral problems. "It has no authority to determine matters such as maritime jurisdictions and airspace. Therefore, what the EU needs to do is encourage all countries to resolve their bilateral problems on a bilateral basis and in accordance with international law. All other interventions are useless, they are harmful. Instead, the EU blindly supports the right or wrong stance of a member state."

"Türkiye-EU relations should not be hostage to the maximalist policy expectations of Greece and Greek Cyprus. The EU should also give them the right messages and advise them to resolve the bilateral problems at the dual level. If this is done, I believe that there will be an important opening in Türkiye-EU relations," he added.

Türkiye and Greece are at odds over a number of issues, including competing claims over jurisdiction in the Eastern Mediterranean, overlapping claims over their continental shelves, maritime boundaries, airspace, energy, the ethnically split island of Cyprus, the status of the islands in the Aegean Sea and migrants. Ankara accuses Athens of illegally militarizing Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean and questions Greece’s sovereignty over them. There is also a dispute over the exploitation of mineral resources in the Aegean.

Another point Kaymakcı touched upon was EU border agency Frontex's cooperation with Greek authorities in pushing back migrants in the Aegean Sea toward Turkish territorial waters.

"Türkiye has been saying from the beginning that these pushback practices by Greece are against international law. Türkiye explained all these issues and Frontex's responsibility to the EU. These are now confirmed by the bloc's own reports," he said.

Describing the migration issue as a very serious global problem, Kaymakcı said that mutual accusations do not produce any results.

"In order to solve this problem together, the EU should take responsibility in this regard. Neither Türkiye nor any other country can bear the burden of such a problem alone. Türkiye is the country that has taken the most responsibility in the issue of migration for the stability and security of the EU, but it is not possible to maintain this forever. We cannot solve this problem if we cannot create a common strategy," Kaymakcı said underlining the importance of cooperation.

The European Union's border agency has been covering up illegal pushbacks of migrants by the Hellenic Coast Guard into Turkish territorial waters, a report by the bloc's anti-fraud office revealed last week. According to the report by OLAF, Frontex has been withholding cases of possible human rights violations from its own fundamental rights officers, suspending aerial surveillance to avoid recording illegal activities, co-financing Greek units that carried out pushbacks and misleading the authorities responsible for overseeing the agency.

In recent years, Frontex has come under fire for alleged mistreatment of migrants, often endangering their lives. Türkiye and global rights groups have repeatedly condemned Greece's illegal practice of pushing back asylum-seekers, saying it violates humanitarian values and international law by endangering the lives of vulnerable migrants, including women and children. Earlier this year, Frontex head Fabrice Leggeri resigned amid the scandal. Human rights groups have also documented other human rights violations on EU borders where Frontex operates.

War in Ukraine

Kaymakcı also said that Russia's war on Ukraine has once again revealed Türkiye's importance for both Europe and the EU, especially in four areas that stand out as the leading challenges in this period.

"With the Russia-Ukraine war, we are currently seeing serious challenges, especially in four areas. The most important of these are security and defense. We always say: if Türkiye had become an EU member, and NATO and the EU could act together in harmony, it would not have been possible for Russia to start this war so easily. The duo of EU and NATO could really be a deterrent force in such a scenario."

Türkiye is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Türkiye has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.

According to Kaymakcı, the second area is energy. "There is a serious energy security problem following the war in Ukraine. One of Europe's four most important energy supply lines passes through Türkiye, which is the Southern Gas Corridor. Its capacity can easily be doubled in a few years. By connecting the Eastern Mediterranean gas here, Türkiye actually offers a very important opportunity to Europe in terms of energy security. However, unfortunately, the potential in this field cannot be evaluated due to the policy of Greece and Greek Cyprus against Türkiye in the EU."

The third area is economic recovery and strengthening supply chains, the diplomat highlighted. "After the pandemic and the Ukraine war, serious problems arose in all economies. Now a serious recovery is needed all over the world. Türkiye-EU economic and trade relations can be effective for this recovery. The EU is still Türkiye's largest trading partner, and Türkiye is the EU's fifth-largest economic partner. With an update in the customs union deal, the trade volume may double in the short term. This means a significant increase in growth, employment and welfare."

"Considering energy and tourism issues as well as trade for economic recovery, Türkiye is an important factor for the EU," he added.

The last area mentioned by Kaymakcı was migration. "There was already a certain cooperation with the EU in this regard. With millions of Ukrainians leaving their country, the issue of migration has once again revealed itself as a serious problem. The issue of migration is not an issue that can be solved by simply protecting or closing national borders. For an effective solution, Türkiye-EU cooperation needs to be deepened."