We will continue engaging with Türkiye. Leaders reiterated in the European Council in April this year the interest of the European Union in developing a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship with Türkiye, strategically, politically and economically.

I worked a lot to reverse the negative spiral in our relationship. At the beginning, things were much more difficult than today.  

We have re-engaged in areas of mutual interest. In the end, Türkiye is a candidate country whose geopolitical relevance has increased much more. 

European citizens expect the European Union to have the capacity to act, to ensure stability and cooperation in our neighbourhood, in our surrounding areas. If we are not able to do that in our immediate neighbourhood, it is very difficult to believe that we could do that in much further parts of the world. 

We are not and we will not be a bystander. Also for us, enlargement remains central to our geopolitical approach. This is a clear position of the [European] Commission, to which I have had the honour to be a member. 

Q. HR/VP Borrell, the report on Türkiye takes note of the country’s low alignment with the European Union’s foreign policy and security, as well as the non-full implementation of the 2016 statement on migration. Nonetheless, the European Union is planning a new high-level council with Türkiye to focus on these same exact issues. So, I was wondering what are your expectations from this new council? Since Türkiye is not aligned fully with the European Union foreign policy and security and migration. 

Well, on Türkiye, that is true. It is clear that there is a very low level of alignment with our foreign policy. Not only is it very low, but it is decreasing. While it is not the only country that has a low level of alignment, this is particularly low and decreasing. It is also true that there are areas in which no progress has been made, in particular on the protection of fundamental rights and others. It is also true that the report recognises Türkiye’s efforts in areas such as trade, anti-money-laundering, research and innovation and economic and monetary policy.

It is what they said in April, and following these April 2024 conclusions, we have tried to re-engage our relationships with Türkiye and concrete steps were taken towards a constructive exchange on issues of joint interest. That is what we will continue to try to do, hoping that Türkiye will be actively supporting the negotiations on a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement on the Cyprus issue, within the United Nations’ framework – something that cannot be solved without Türkiye’s participation. That is [a more than enough] reason to continue engaging with Türkiye in spite as you said of this low rate of alignment with our foreign policy.

Link to video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-262882  

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