The time has come to “look with fresh eyes” on relations as “stronger partnerships between the EU and Türkiye would be a win-win for all of us,” EU Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has said ahead of her visit to Ankara on Feb. 5-6.
“There is really more that connects EU and Türkiye than what is dividing us, and we really should work on this,” she said in an interview with Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency.
Kos said she is “very much looking forward” to her first official visit to Türkiye and explained that she had “intense contacts” with her Turkish counterparts “since the first day" of her mandate, especially with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
She asserted that her visit aligns with the approach of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with the aim of opening a new perspective in the relations.
“We are really living in challenging times. The world is changing around us. We are seeing the return of imperial behavior as China, Russia and the U.S. are aggressively building their spheres of interest,” Kos said.
In the face of these geopolitical challenges, Kos urged strengthening cooperation, noting: “Our economies are very much interdependent. Whatever happens on the field of migration on each side is affecting the other side.”
Asked about Türkiye’s EU membership perspective in the face of political obstacles, Kos acknowledged that “since 2018, there is a standstill in the negotiation or accession process” but underscored that the EU still “considers Türkiye as a candidate country.”
Acknowledging that they are “not starting from scratch,” Kos underlined that the latest EU enlargement reports on the progress of candidate countries had “seen steps away from EU standards, especially on the rule of law and democracy.”
“I know that Türkiye has a very long democratic tradition and also a strong civil society, and this is what we would like to strengthen, and this would build trust between the EU and Türkiye,” she underlined.
