Farewell Message from Undersecretary Ambassador Haluk Ilıcak

Dear Minister,

Dear Deputy Minister

Dear Ambassadors, Acting Ambassadors,

My dear colleagues,

Distinguished guests,

I have completed another episode in my 34 years professional career and now I am leaving the Ministry for EU Affairs, where I worked proudly, for another mission. I will always have pleasant memories of and miss very much my tenure here and my Ministers and colleagues with whom I have worked. 

It has been 4 years since I took the office as the Deputy Secretary General for EU Affairs in March 2010. In this period, the Secretariat General for EU Affairs has become the Ministry for EU Affairs. During that transformation, I first became the Acting Secretary General for EU Affairs, then the Acting Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs and finally on 7 November 2011, the Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs. I would like to express my gratitude first to my predecessor Ambassador Volkan Bozkır, the President of the TGNA Foreign Affairs Committee, who supported my appointment as the Deputy Secretary General and then to my Minister, Mr. Egemen Bağış who was so kind to appoint me as the Acting Undersecretary and then the Undersecretary of the Ministry.

Dear friends,

The main function of the Ministry for EU Affairs, as indicated in its founding Law, is to direct, monitor and duly coordinate the work carried out within the framework of the EU accession negotiations. Another mission of the Ministry, which we unfortunately cannot perform as yet, is to coordinate the post-accession work. As we all know, the status quo of the accession negotiations is not satisfactory due to the blockages and delays in the official process which presumably will continue to exist unless progress is made towards solution on certain issues of conflict, particularly on the Cyprus issue.

During my 4-year tenure in this Ministry, we were able to open only 2 chapters due to the political blockages. The last chapter was opened in last November following a 40-month break.  During the EU Presidency of Greece, should the political blockages are lifted, we hope to open at least 1 or 2 out of the 4-5 chapters for which we have fulfilled the criteria and finalized the preparations.  On the other hand, opening of 1 or 2 chapters per year would not be a sustainable approach for the process given that 21 chapters are currently pending. Hence, I believe that the EU should put aside prejudices and take the measures required to return the process to its ordinary course and that through an objective assessment it should support and promote Türkiye towards meeting the accession criteria.  This would be a win-win case for both sides.

At this occasion, I would especially like to express that I consider the signing of the Readmission Agreement and the launch of the Visa Liberalisation Dialogue as the most significant developments of recent years in our relations with the EU. If all goes well, this compromise will not only ensure visa-free travel for Turkish citizens to the Schengen area within 3 to 3.5 years, but by countering the unfounded fears and prejudices of Europeans that millions of Turkish citizens would be settling in Europe and disrupting the order, allow our relations to continue on an objective and sound basis. For this reason, I believe that it would be wise to move forward on this issue, for which we have taken the necessary measures against any kind of unfavourable development, and through the mutual fulfilment of commitments, provide Turkish citizens with the visa-free Europe that they deserve.

Distinguished guests,

Thanks to the efforts of our Honorable Ministers Mr. Egemen Bagis and Mr. Mevlut Çavusoglu and Deputy Minister Mr. Alaattin Büyükkaya to keep the EU issue on the agenda and the dedicated work of all my colleagues, even during the past 4 years of stagnation in Türkiye-EU relations, work has continued for alignment with the EU acquis and visibility and prestige of the Ministry for EU Affairs has been maintained at the highest level. During this stagnation in the official negotiation process, the Ministry, acting as a kind of “kitchen” for the reforms, has continued the momentum for further progress by taking a leading role for the reforms in a number of areas.

Our main objective, as had been set out by Atatürk, our leader, is to attain, and even to go beyond the level of contemporary civilization. Therefore, these efforts will obviously pave the way for a more advanced democracy, enhancement of fundamental rights and freedoms and help Türkiye transform into a more developed and prosperous country. Türkiye’s EU accession process is undeniably one of the most important driving forces in this respect.

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone with whom we worked in harmony for their assistance and cooperation, in particular our Deputy Undersecretaries
and Directors and to the staff of the Ministry for EU Affairs and of other Ministries, institutions and organisations.

I would like to thank Ms. Kamber, Ms. Çavuşlu, Ms. Gülşen and Mr. Karagöz, who have shared the burden with me. I would also like to thank the Secretariat of the Minister and my colleagues in the Directorate of Administrative Services and of Protocol. 

I would like to express my gratitude to our Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for his support and confidence although we have worked together only for a brief period of time. I am also grateful to my Minister for organising this wonderful reception. 

And finally, I would like to thank all my family, my wife Müge in particular and all my friends for their sacrifice and support.

Dear Ambassadors, 

Before concluding, I would like to thank you all and your staff for your friendship, support and cooperation. I am confident that, through your support, relations with the EU and cooperation between the Ministry and embassies of the EU member countries and the EU Delegation will further develop in the months and years ahead.

Dear Minister, Dear Deputy Minister and dear colleagues, please accept my excuses, if any, during my tenure of office and please keep in mind that I will always be pleased to host you in Geneva.

Thank you very much.