Ankara says revival of Türkiye-EU ties benefits all
ANKARA
Türkiye’s top diplomat, Hakan Fidan, has reiterated the need for the revitalization of ties and enhanced dialogue between Türkiye and the EU, after a lengthy and rare meeting with the EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Foreign Minister Fidan attended the EU’s informal meeting upon the invitation of the EU’s high representative of foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell, and discussed the Ankara-Brussels relationship and regional issues with his colleagues.
Both Fidan and Borrell expressed their satisfaction with the conversation and their hopes for the continuation of the high-level dialogue.
“We believe that revitalizing Türkiye-European Union relations is in everyone’s interest,” Fidan said after the meeting, calling the EU to follow a positive policy in this direction as well.
“EU membership is a strategic goal for Türkiye. Our president has clearly expressed this on different occasions. We want to move forward through the positive agenda,” Fidan underlined.
However, Fidan urged the EU not to link the unresolved Cyprus question to the Turkish-EU ties. He stressed this would not be healthy and wouldn’t yield results.
The Turkish foreign minister informed that he conveyed Ankara’s expectations for the modernization of the customs union and visa liberalization for the Turkish nationals. “We have fulfilled 66 criteria and only six criteria are left to fulfill. We are working to fulfill them with our relevant institutions,” he said.
Fidan reiterated the importance of high-level and institutional dialogue between Ankara and Brussels and stressed “Today, almost all my colleagues have underlined that structural and regular consultations with Türkiye on all issues, particularly foreign policy, security and defense policies should continue. They have also stressed that Türkiye is playing a crucial role in the Russia-Ukraine [war], war in Gaza, Syria, Iraq, the Middle East, Africa and South Caucasus.”
Borrell: I hope this meeting will be first step
For his part, Borrell highlighted the meeting as a potential first step toward resolving longstanding issues and strengthening bilateral relations. He reaffirmed Türkiye's status as an EU candidate country, stressing the importance of maintaining constructive dialogue.
"I hope this invitation to the Turkish foreign minister to our meeting will be the first step to renew a process of dialogue to address all problems, especially the Cyprus issue," Borrell remarked.
Despite the positive tone of the discussions, Borrell said that no specific timetable was set for advancing Türkiye's EU membership process.
However, he reaffirmed that "Türkiye is a candidate country and will continue to be so," indicating the EU's willingness to keep the door open for future negotiations.
