EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır visited the central province of Kayseri on Wednesday where he attended the Civil Society Dialogue meeting and provided details on the latest developments regarding Turkey's EU accession process.

Speaking at the meeting held at Kayseri's Kadir Has Convention Center, Bozkır said that as Ankara has adopted an understanding that embraces "dialogue and sharing," the number of civil society organizations have increased from 74,250 in 2000 to 108,735 in 2016. Providing further details on the EU's monetary funding to Kayseri as part of the EU accession process, Bozkır also announced that 16 million euros of funding will be provided under the civil society grant program.

Many people, including local civil society groups, local administrators, local businessmen and representatives from universities, attended the meeting where Bozkır further announced that by 2020 Turkey will provide nearly 190 million euros to civil society organizations. He explained the significance of civil society groups and their importance for Turkey's EU accession process. Regarding the visa liberalization process, Bozkır reiterated that the process will be finalized as of October 2016 at the latest. He added that until now, 15 chapters have been opened, and Ankara will continue its efforts to open new chapters in 2016.

As part of the Strong civil society and strong Turkey project, nine civil society dialogue meetings have been arranged throughout Istanbul, İzmir, Konya, Adana Bursa, Antalya, Samsun and Eskişehir and Ankara. At all meetings, Erasmus programs and the Turkey-EU Financial Cooperation Program have been discussed.