The European Union is in dialogue with Türkiye on re-energising and improving relations, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi has said during a trip to the country’s capital Ankara, according to Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT.
The Commissioner promised more pre-accession financial aid, but remained vague on two issues that matter the most to Turkey: Free circulation of citizens and renewal of the Customs Union.
“There is an understanding that we should advance work on re-energising our relationship in a cooperative and mutually beneficial manner,” Varhelyi said at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Thursday.
“When we think about Türkiye, we think about a candidate country, key partner, and strategic and major NATO ally,” he noted, adding that the two parties have “overcome a significant amount of problems” regarding the Customs Union.
Economic relations
The EU official also underlined the economic cooperation between the two sides, adding that 2023 saw a record in trade with Türkiye.
“The EU aims to mobilise €2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) of direct investment as part of the EU-Türkiye Investment Platform,” Varhelyi stated.
Fidan, for his part, underlined that the EU visa process for Turkish citizens should be more streamlined, saying: “Recently, there have been visa issues with the EU countries, and we’re in talks with our European counterparts on this matter.”
“Historically, we always favored the European Union and will not hesitate to move forward our economic and political cooperation with EU institutions,” he said. Fidan, however, pointed out the “identity politics” pursued by some members of the bloc for their own “cheap domestic policy goals consisting of anti-Turkish, anti-Islamic discourse along with the migrant card,” he said, referring to the issue of irregular migration that also fuels far-right, xenophobic rhetoric in EU. “These help them win votes but strategically, push EU to a problematic area,” he said.
“The number of Turkish asylum seekers registered in Germany increased by 51 percent compared to the previous year and reached 152,000 in 2023” reports Duvar English, suggesting sorting out free circulation of citizens is not going to be easy.
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