The Russia-Ukraine war offers an important opportunity to see past mistakes and revive relations between Türkiye and the European Union, Deputy Foreign Minister Faruk Kaymakcı said Friday.

Kaymakcı gave a speech titled "Türkiye-EU relations in the context of Russia's attack on Ukraine" at the Vienna Diplomacy Academy, one of the well-established educational institutions in Austria.

Summarizing the process of Türkiye-EU relations until the Russia-Ukraine war, he drew attention to the problems and steps to be taken in the areas of irregular migration, the customs union, the fight against terrorism, energy and food security.

Kaymakcı stated that Türkiye was left alone in the fight against irregular migration and Syria, and that the EU did not fulfill most of its promises regarding the 18 March agreement reached between Ankara and Brussels.

He stated that after the migrant crisis and the March 18 deal, relations initially progressed positively, but the coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) affected the relations negatively.

"The leaders of some EU member states chose to wait until the morning to decide who to call, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan or Fetullah Gülen? Politically, you may or may not like some politicians, but Türkiye is a democratic country and has a government. This power cannot be overthrown by a military coup or by force. This issue actually led to serious insecurity in the relations between Türkiye and Europe."

Noting that the cooperation in the fight against terrorism is relatively good, but the EU has shown different approaches toward terrorist groups, Kaymakcı mentioned that Türkiye's sensitivities regarding terrorism remain unaddressed.

In March 2016, the EU and Türkiye reached an agreement to stop irregular migration through the Aegean Sea and improve the conditions of more than 3 million Syrian refugees in Türkiye. The deal has been successful in stemming the flow of migrants and refugees, but the EU’s reluctance to take in refugees from Türkiye, and bureaucratic hurdles in transferring promised funds for refugees, have led to sharp criticism from Turkish politicians.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan criticized the EU for failing to fulfill its pledge to provide funding for migrants and refugees in Türkiye as part of the pact while allocating billions of euros to Greece. Six years on, the pact is failing as Türkiye struggles with the increased number of migrants, while the EU is more divided than ever over its asylum policy.

Türkiye is hosting more than 5 million migrants, with nearly 4 million from Syria, its migration authority says. That's 2 million more than in 2016, a heavy burden on a country that only had 60,000 asylum-seekers in 2011 before Syria's civil war broke out.

He also underlined that Türkiye was isolated and excluded by the EU. "As you know, a terminology such as 'Western Balkan countries' was developed and Türkiye was separated from other candidate countries," he added.

Explaining that the EU holds regular meetings with six countries called the Western Balkan countries, Kaymakcı noted that the talks with Türkiye were blocked due to the tension in the Mediterranean.

The EU marginalized Türkiye with its stances on various areas, the diplomat said and added: "If Türkiye had been a member of the EU, we could have prevented the war in Iraq and Syria. I think Russia's war could have been prevented too if Türkiye had been a member of the EU. Because this means that in such a case NATO would be the army of the EU."

Stating that EU membership is a strategic goal for Türkiye and they are behind this goal, Kaymakcı said that progress could not be made because the EU's stance on negotiations is not motivating.

Referring to what needs to be done after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Kaymakcı said that the security and defense mechanism should be strengthened, but Türkiye's participation in various formations such as the EU Defense Agency was prevented.

In recent years, Türkiye-EU relations have been marked by disputes on several issues, including tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean, Türkiye's role in Syria, the migrant crisis and the stalemate in Türkiye's accession process to join the bloc. However, Türkiye has recently reiterated that it is part of Europe and sees its future in the EU, adding that it will continue to work toward full membership.

Ankara has been calling for reenergizing the accession process, updating the EU-Türkiye Customs Union, regular high-level dialogues, visa liberalization and counterterrorism cooperation.

Türkiye has a long history with the union and the longest negotiation process. The country signed an association agreement with the EU's predecessor, the European Economic Community (EEC), in 1964, which is 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. Türkiye then had to wait another six years for negotiations to begin in 2005, a uniquely long process compared to other candidates. Since then, the process seems to have stalled.