Turkey’s cooperation with Germany, which remains a driving force within the European Union, will be very important and decisive, said Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Ankara’s envoy to the EU, on Thursday.
Turkey expects Germany’s new government to understand the importance of Ankara’s ties to the EU, Bozay said at a virtual seminar focused on analyzing the potential impacts of recent German elections.
He said outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel has very good relations with Turkey despite occasional problems and is pursuing a policy which is in the interests of both countries.
Germany and Merkel played a role in defusing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean last year, as well as the 2015 migration crisis, Bozay said, adding that Turkey and the EU had developed a “positive agenda” during his tenure.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) narrowly edged out Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) bloc and her sister Christian Social Union (CSU) party to win last Sunday’s national elections.
However, the SPD failed to secure a parliamentary majority and the country is now expected to see months of inter-party negotiations to form a coalition government.
Bozay said he expects the new German government to take an approach towards Turkey that will be in line with the country’s current position.
“We can assume that the new coalition government to be formed in Germany will not push for a major and sudden change in relations with Turkey,” he said.
The envoy said Turkey would continue to actively engage with the new government and continue to “cooperate on regional and other issues”.
Stressing that Berlin remains Ankara’s largest trading partner, he said cooperation between German and Turkish companies will be vital in efforts to achieve “green transformation” goals.
On the issue of updating the EU-Turkey Customs Union, Bozay said there were political and economic hurdles to overcome.
He said negotiations on the issue can begin under current conditions but will likely take two to three years.
Turkey has the longest history with union and the longest process of negotiation. The country signed an association agreement with the EU’s predecessor in 1964, the European Economic Community (EEC), which is generally seen as a first step to eventually becoming a candidate. Presenting its official candidacy in 1987, Turkey had to wait until 1999 to obtain the status of candidate country. For the start of negotiations, however, Turkey had to wait another six years, until 2005, a particularly long process compared to other candidates.
