Accession of Turkey to the European Union

Turkey and the European Union (EU) are working on the elements of positive agenda which the European Council outlined previously, EU Ambassador to Turkey Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut said on Jan. 20.

Spain is arming Turkey. It is all the more curious when one considers that Spain is a member of the MED-9 group of Mediterranean countries that is working more closely with Greece, and it is certainly unacceptable.

During a visit of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Ankara, the reinforcement of the defence cooperation between the two countries was announced.

Turkey's Green Reconciliation Working Group, which was formed under the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce, will intensify its activities in order to remove barriers to foreign trade and ensure the green transformation of companies.

Blaming Turkey for the refugee crisis is a "real ingratitude," the country's president said on Nov. 11.

"It is Greece that is condemning refugees to death by skewering their boats," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a press conference alongside Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in the capital Ankara following a meeting between the two. "We have all the documents."

The Green Deal, a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission to make Europe climate neutral by 2050, can create cooperation between the EU and Turkey to work towards same objectives, according to an official.

Ambassador Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, head of the EU Delegation to Turkey, said Ankara has taken a major step by ratifying the Paris Agreement.

The European Union is not paying money to the Turkish government, it is supporting the refugees in the country, a top EU official said on Nov. 9.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry slammed a report released on Oct. 19 by the European Commission on Turkey's membership process, saying it once again reflected the double standard approach towards the country.

German firms see Turkey not only as a large consumer market but as a hub that gives them access to a market with a population of 1.5 billion, said the head of the German Turkish Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Oct. 18.

2020 was the worst year in ties between Turkey and Europe but now they are slightly better, a rapporteur of the European Parliament has said, citing the resumption of dialogue between Turkey and Greece as a positive move.

Nacho Sanchez Amor, European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, met with Turkish journalists on Oct. 9 during a visit to Istanbul.

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakcı on Sept. 29 praised Germany's contribution to the advancement of relations between Turkey and the European Union. 

Addressing a webinar on Turkish-German relations and prospects for the post-Merkel era, Kaymakcı drew attention to the special ties between the two countries.