Stefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, and the accompanying delegation, visited TÜSİAD on July 12. The delegation consisting of the Members of the Board of Directors of TÜSİAD led by Ümit BOYNER, President of TÜSİAD, discussed the prominent issues in Turkey-EU relations.
Ümit Boyner, President of the Board of Directors of TÜSİAD, stated that she believes the establishment of the Ministry for EU Affairs in the new government will accelerate Turkey’s negotiation process, and said the following in relation with the EU process:
“Membership in European Union is the main point of reference for the sustainable economic growth and democratization process of Turkey. Membership in EU must become the common objective of all the political parties in the parliament, which has a high representative authority as the result of the general elections. A new constitution to be prepared in the new period with a participatory method will contribute to this process. We took this opportunity to inform Mr. Füle that TÜSİAD is ready to contribute the constitution process as a non-governmental organization.”
At the meeting with Stefan Füle, TÜSİAD delegation stated opinions related with Cyprus issue, as well as the main issues related with EU harmonization process. Ümit Boyner emphasized that the solution of the issue is important not only for Turkey’s progress for EU membership, but also for ending the economic isolation of the people of TRNC. Ümit Boyner, President of TÜSİAD, noted that she is hopeful for the negotiation process between the parties in Cyprus, which is intended to be completed until the end of the year by the United Nations (UN), and underlined the importance of EU’s cooperation with UN in this process.
Ümit Boyner stated that the issues of visa exemption and Free Trade Agreements were also discussed at the meeting, and said:
“The economic integration with EU is becoming deeper. It is very clear that EU business community desires to increase the investment and trade relations with Turkey. In this frame, in terms of maintaining the competitiveness of Turkey and EU, we believe that our country should be included in the process of free trade agreements made by EU with third countries.”
In addition, Boyner mentioned the visa policy of EU countries for Turkish citizens, and stated that this policy is very restricting in terms of the economic and cultural relations between Turkey and EU. Ümit Boyner emphasized that visa-free pass should be targeted instead of the visa policy implemented for Turkey, which is a candidate country since 1999, and stated TÜSİAD’s demand for cooperation from European Commission on this matter.