The European Union Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi will visit Türkiye this week as Ankara-EU relations near a positive reset.
Varhelyi will be in Ankara on Sept. 5-7 and meet Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday to discuss Türkiye-EU relations in all aspects, as well as regional and global issues, Fidan’s office announced Monday.
The ministry added that the commissioner will also meet other high-level officials during his visit.
Varhelyi’s visit marks the latest development in the complicated relationship between the bloc and Ankara, especially over the latter’s stalled membership process.
In the wake of a NATO summit in Lithuania, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced hope for momentum in the process, the expectations are high for Ankara.
After a summer recess in EU bodies ends, the pair will likely give another try for full membership talks in the coming months.
Türkiye anticipates concrete results from the dragged-out process, especially for an update on the customs union and visa liberalization.
For its part, the European Union expressed willingness to strengthen ties while several members already enjoy warm relations with Türkiye.
The bloc seeks to iron out differences on several issues and progress in political aspects of the “Copenhagen Criteria” Türkiye must fulfill for membership, including nine chapters, including high-level dialogue meetings, counterterrorism efforts, security and defense, financial cooperation and communications.
Türkiye has the most extended history with the union and the most prolonged negotiation process. The country signed an association agreement with the EU’s predecessor in 1964, the European Economic Community (EEC), which is usually regarded as a first step to eventually becoming a candidate.
Applying for official candidacy in 1987, Türkiye had to wait until 1999 to be granted the status of a candidate country. For the start of the negotiations, however, Türkiye had to wait for another six years, until 2005, a uniquely long process compared with other candidates.
Recently, Fidan stated it was “strategic blindness” to hinder Türkiye’s EU membership process. “It is essential to have a visionary view of Turkish-EU relations in the new era and revive the process with the perspective of full membership.
This “blindness” cost Türkiye over five decades, as the process adhered to a course based on “need” for each other rather than joint strategic goals, and trust for each other for both parties has long been low.
Though Türkiye has been vocal about its ambition to join the bloc, it apparently capitalizes on a new wave of expanding alliances sped up amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Indeed, Ukraine and Moldova are considered for membership without fulfilling the necessary criteria, while Türkiye has been far ahead of them in this task.
Ahead of the NATO summit, Erdoğan said that the EU should pave the way for Türkiye just as Türkiye may pave the way for Sweden’s membership to NATO amid security concerns in the conflict’s wake.
Before Erdoğan’s statements, Brussels had already expressed a desire for a renewed process after the former was reelected for a five-year tenure in the May 28 runoff.
Before the work was paused for a summer recess, senior officials had stated that they were open for a debate on Cyprus negotiations, an issue thwarting the process.
At a meeting before the summer recess in June, EU officials announced that the European Commission would draft a report on the status of Türkiye-EU relations.
On July 20, EU foreign ministers convened for the first time with Türkiye on their agenda since 2021 as a positive sign of changing relations.
