"Press Release by IKV President Dr. Ayhan Zeytinoğlu Regarding European Commission President von der Leyen's Remarks About Turkish Influence in Europe"
President of the European Commission Ms. Ursula von der Leyen made a speech at the 80th anniversary of the German Newspaper die Zeit in which she reportedly made the following remarks:
"We must succeed in completing the European continent so that it does not fall under Russian, Turkish or Chinese influence. We must think bigger and more geopolitically."
IKV President Dr. Ayhan Zeytinoğlu reacted to Ms. von der Leyen's remarks and underlined the status of Türkiye as a candidate country to join the EU:
I find European Commission President Ms. von der Leyen's remarks about "completing the European Continent so that it does not fall under Russian, Turkish or Chinese influence" quite controversial and paradoxical. Türkiye is a candidate country since 1999 and started accession negotiations in 2005. When Türkiye made its first application to join the EU in 1987, several of the EU' current Member States and candidate countries either did not exist as independent states or were within the Eastern bloc. Türkiye has determined its European vocation much earlier with the foundation of the Turkish Republic by Ataturk, entry into the Council of Europe in 1949, and NATO in 1952. It has signed an Association Agreement in 1963 which stipulated Türkiye's membership when Türkiye is in a position to fulfil the membership requirements. To equate Türkiye's status in Europe with that of Russia or China is at best a misunderstanding or fallacy due to the long history of Türkiye's EU relationship and its unending aim to become an EU member state. Türkiye has a customs union with the EU dating back to 1996 which does not only include free trade but also approximation of legislation and adoption of the EU's common commercial policy. Türkiye is a participant in several EU programmes and agencies such as Erasmus and Horizon. Türkiye cooperates with the EU in several critical issues such as migration, security and connectivity. Moreover, Türkiye is not Russia, meaning that it has not waged war on another European country nor has it threatened European interests elsewhere. Türkiye is part of Europe and European integration is not complete without Türkiye".
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