Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs Selim Yenel made a speech at the Türkiye-EU Civil Society Meeting held in Paris

The Fifth Türkiye-EU Civil Society Meeting was held in Paris, attended by Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Ömer Çelik, with the participation of Turkish and European academics and representatives from the media and think tanks.

Turkish and French media representatives met on the first day of the meeting, which was titled “Europe: Our Common Future.” Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs Ambassador Selim Yenel spoke at the opening of the meeting and said that issues regarding Türkiye-EU relations could be summarized under three main headings.

“There are three main issues in Türkiye-EU relations. The first is Türkiye’s EU membership. Accession negotiations are stalled right now. Unfortunately, there are no negotiation chapters to be opened because there is a political obstruction. We know that these obstacles are mainly caused by the Greek Cypriot Administration. We cannot progress on this issue until the Cyprus issue is settled. The second issue is the Customs Union. It has been twenty years since the conclusion of the Customs Union. At the time, there were even headlines that there would eventually be progress and Türkiye would be an EU member in three years. The Customs Union is outdated compared to free trade agreements. The third issue is visa exemption. Türkiye has fulfilled 67 out of 72 criteria, with five criteria remaining.”