EU should admit Türkiye to defense programs, says Fidan

ANKARA

The European Union should include Türkiye to its defense and security programs for the good sake of the continental security, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a senior EU official, stressing the importance of the prevail of a more strategic perspective to Ankara-Brussels relations.

Fidan met European Commission’s Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, on May 6 in the Turkish capital as part of intensified exchanges between the two sides in the recent period.

According to the sources from the Foreign Ministry, Fidan has underlined that full membership to the EU remains to be Türkiye’s strategic objective. Having said this, Fidan repeated Ankara’s expectations for advancing the ties on a comprehensive, institutional and multilayered framework and on the basis of Türkiye’s accession process.

Fidan’s meeting with Commissioner Suica came days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan urged the EU for abandoning a strategic blindness on ties with Türkiye and adopt a more inclusive approach.

The minister underlined the need for the revitalization of the institutional consultation mechanisms and the resumption of Türkiye-EU Partnership Council as well as the high-level dialogue mechanisms on political affairs, energy and transportation.

Talks in Ankara did also cover economic relations as Fidan stressed that the removal of remaining restrictions for the activities of the European Investment Bank and activation of the Türkiye Investment Platform will be important steps to this end. He will also repeat Ankara’s expectations for the resumption of negotiations for the modernization of the customs union and visa liberalization.

HH Security and defense cooperation

Fidan also raised recently intensified efforts for maintaining the security of Europe amid concerns that the United States troops will be withdrawn from the continent.

He underlined the need for the inclusion of Türkiye to EU-led security and defense initiatives as well as regional strategies, projects and programs.

Türkiye has long been urging the EU not to duplicate NATO’s security and defense programs but to complement them by fully engaging with the non-EU allies of the alliance. This issue will be on the agenda of the NATO Summit to be held in Ankara in July under the section of NATO-EU partnership.

The two officials also discussed recent regional developments in the Mediterranean and the Midde East where tension between the United States and Iran continues to threaten peace and stability in the world.