09.05.2015 İstanbul
Speaking at the meeting held for the 50th anniversary of the Financial Development Foundation (İKV) and attended by the President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We will continue to work for Turkey’s EU membership just as we have done so far,” expressing determination on the matter of the EU accession process. Hisarcıklıoğlu also urged the government which will be formed following the elections to focus on the EU accession process.
Attending İKV’s 50th anniversary event in İstanbul in
addition to TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu were the President of the
Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, EU Minister and Chief Negotiator
Volkan Bozkır, İKV President Ömer Cihad Vardan and many businesspeople.
Speaking at the opening of the meeting, TOBB President M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that the business community view EU membership as a
win-win, “Youth and women will win, workers will win, small businesses will
win, farmers will win. All parts of society will benefit. Likewise, EU will
benefit from this. Turkey’s membership will render the European Union’s
political and financial situation more robust and dynamic. This will lead to
increased regional and global stability as well as peace.”
Stating that İKV was founded with this vision 50 years ago,
Hisarcıklıoğlu said that TOBB has adopted İKV with the same vision for the last
50 years, contributing to its efforts.
- Importance of reforms
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The EU membership process requires comprehensive
reforms. In the past, especially under the leadership of our President of the
Republic, Turkey gained much ground in this regard. Significant reforms were
enacted in order to meet the Copenhagen political criteria.
Comprehensive reforms have been enacted in regards to the rule of law,
the preservation of basic rights and freedoms and a working market economy.
Today, many EU countries are unable to fulfill Maastricht Criteria; we
have fulfilled many of these criteria thanks to the economic reforms we’ve
enacted. However, there are still significant reforms in the area of finances
and politics which must be enacted. Enacting reforms is difficult; it requires
wide social support and compromise.
We’ve organized many activities to this end, both domestically and
internationally, under the İKV umbrella with many organizations representing
all parts of society.
The President of the Republic also attended these activities.
We will continue our efforts. On Thursday, I met with the EUROCHAMBRES
Chairman in Brussels as well as the European Commissioner for Regional Policy,
Johannes Hahn, relaying to them our expectations in regards to the EU accession
process.”
- Visa freedom dialogue must be
satisfactorily concluded
Stating that chapters on energy, economic and monetary policy,
legislation and basic rights as well as justice, freedoms and security should
be opened posthaste, Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The visa problem needs to be addressed
as soon as possible. The modernization of the Customs Union is on the agenda.
The developments in this regard were announced by the Prime Minister on May 2nd,
2015, at the TOBB General Assembly. I would like to thank the government for
their determination on this matter.”
Stating that Turkey should not be excluded from the TTIP negotiations,
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “We should continue to work
together on all of these issues. The government which will be formed following
the elections should focus on the EU accession process, too. Despite some EU
leaders' lack of vision and sense of justice as well as unacceptable behavior,
we must accomplish this for ourselves because the Turkish people deserve to
live on the EU standards. We will continue to work for Turkey’s EU membership
just as we have done so far.”
- President of the Republic of
Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reported that
14 chapters have been opened for negotiations while Science and Research
chapter has been closed temporarily, and went on, “The other chapters which
need to be opened remain closed due to purely political reticence. We are
determined to continue our negotiation process which we’ve done for the last 10
years despite its ups and downs.”
Erdoğan thanked the Financial Development Foundation (İKV) for their
contributions to Turkey’s EU journey in their 50 years since 1965. He went on
to congratulate the three former presidents and founding members who would be
receiving plaques for their 50 years of service.
- European Union (EU) Minister
and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır
European Union (EU) Minister and Chief Negotiator Volkan Bozkır
criticeized the European Parliament for their statements in regards to the
events of 1915 and pointed to a ruling made by the EU Court of Justice in 2003,
stating that actions made just to spite Turkey would not be to the benefit of
the European Parliament.
Bozkır went on to speak in regards to the efforts to remove visas,
detailing the difficulties stemming from certain conditions in both the EU and
Turkey.
- İKV President Ömer Cihad Vardan
Financial Development Foundation (İKV) President Ömer Cihad Vardan said,
“We believe that this process should not be embroiled in irrelevant political
games lacking credibility and historical truth.”
Drawing attention to the fact that are no countries which have begun the
negotiation process and completed the criteria outlined in each chapter, Vardan
said, “We have been rendered unable to open various chapters due to
extraordinary requirements not previously present as well as vetos from some EU
members. Unfortunately, there are attempts to change the rules while the game
is ongoing.”