Turkey's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Director for European Affairs, Faruk Kaymakcı, hoped on Wednesday 19 February that the arrival of new European institutions would bring about a renewal of relations between his country and the EU.
"I hope that we will be able to develop new and better relations with the new Commission", he told journalists in Brussels, adding that the idea was "to create a positive agenda with the new European administration".
During his visit to Belgium, the Minister met in particular the Commissioners for Enlargement and Humanitarian Aid and the Vice-President responsible for promoting the European way of life. He also met with the new European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey and with the chairman of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, who will visit the country shortly.
"Contacts have been quite positive. They want to see Turkey make more progress towards the EU, to take concrete steps. The main message from Brussels is to continue the reform process, we need more engagement and dialogue", explained Kaymakcı, who promised that his country would focus on reforms, with a strategy on judicial reform or an action plan on human rights.
Relations between the EU and Turkey are more tense than ever. Following Turkey's illegal drilling in the Mediterranean, the EU has suspended high-level dialogues and is preparing to adopt sanctions. And while accession negotiations are currently frozen, this process remains "the backbone of our relationship with the EU and we want to revitalise it", Mr Kaymakcı stressed.
For the minister, whose country is not affected by the new methodology proposed by the Commission on enlargement, the new methodology is a "great danger" for the process, as it makes it increasingly nationalised, strengthens the role of the Member States and causes the Commission to lose its power and the European aspect of its policies.
Beyond the accession process, the EU and Turkey need to work together on common challenges, according to Mr Kaymakcı. In particular, he hoped that cooperation would continue after 2021 and the end of the disbursement of the 6 billion for Syrian refugees in Turkey. According to him, 2.7 billion has been spent so far. He called on the EU to help his country rebuild permanent housing in the liberated areas of northern Syria, on the Turkish border.
And while Europeans believe it is important for the Union to invest in the western Balkans, otherwise other players, including Russia and Turkey, will do so, Mr Kaymakcı explained that his country was "constructive and [was] stabilising the Balkans and should never be seen as a competitor or a threat in the Balkans". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)