Ankara and Brussels launch economic dialogue

Ankara and Brussels have decided to commence economic discourse, Turkey’s minister for European affairs Volkan Bozkir said at a press conference during the  53rd meeting of the EU-Turkey Association Council today in Brussels.

"Economic relations stem from the interests of both sides. That is why we have decided to launch economic dialogue," TASS cited him as saying.

The European Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, added that the European Commission is considering the modernization of EU-Turkey customs union. " I recalled the strong economic links between Turkey and the EU and the need to develop a high-level economic dialogue. We are exploring options to upgrade and update the custom union and to resolve outstanding trade disputes," he said.

A docent of the Faculty of International Relations of the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (Ankara), Togrul Ismail, told Vestnik Kavkaza that in the fist place the intention to conclude an agreement on European expansion a free trade zone with the United States will be considered in the framework of negotiations on updating the Customs Union of the EU and Turkey. "Turkey, as you know, is part of the EU customs union, and it is affected by the processes, which take place in Europe. This customs union should be reformed because of the negotiations between the EU and the US on a free trade zone - Ankara would not want to stay outside these promising agreements," he explained.

Togrul Ismail also drew attention to the fact that "the trade turnover does not satisfies Turkey. I believe that the economic dialogue may be rather an instrument of political pressure, that is, an attempt to link Ankara with Brussels, than the independent dialogue between Turkey and the European Union. If the EU will begin to pay more attention to Turkey, it will achieve the opposite effect, it will distract it from cooperation with other regions and countries," the expert said.

"We have successfully launched a dialogue on abolition of visa regime. I hope that there will be some progress in the near future," RIA Novosti cited the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu as saying.

Cavusoglu also emphasized the cooperation between Turkey and the EU in the field of security. "We will strengthen cooperation with the EU on regional security, peace and stability, as we do it now in relation to the fight against illegal forces," the minister added.

In addition, the head of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, the Foreign Minister of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglu, and Turkish Minister for EU Affairs, Volkan Bozkir, issued a joint statement in which they noted that the talks on Turkey's accession to the EU i the cornerstone of relations between Ankara and Brussels. "Accession negotiations remain the cornerstone between Turkey and the EU. We underlined the importance of concrete steps to revive the accession negotiations, including in the area of rule of law and the justice sector as well as the economic sector," the statement says.