Accession of Turkey to the European Union

Updating the 1995 Customs Union will improve the trade and economic relations between Turkey and the European Union, and will offer economic benefits for both parties, the Turkish trade minister said on June 15. 

Turkey may drill more boreholes in its search for natural gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said on May 24.

Turkey on May 19 rejected the European Parliament's "unilateral and by no means objective" 2019-2020 report on Turkey, a resolution it passed earlier in the day.

Slovenia's Foreign Minister Anze Logar on May 4 pledged to play a constructive role for Turkey's membership in the
European Union.

Speaking at a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Logar said that Slovenia will encourage dialogue between the EU and Turkey during its mandate as president of the Council of the European Union.

Turkey can take a much stronger place with the EU in the post-pandemic era, said the head of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) on April 27. 

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias has paid a much-anticipated visit to the Turkish capital to discuss the bilateral relations and problems stemming from the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean as part of mutual efforts to normalize the strained ties.

But, after Von der Leyen's "Erm, what about me?" moment, the EU Commission Spokesperson Eric Manner declared that the incident had "sharpened her focus on women's rights' issues".

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has urged two visiting top European Union officials to take concrete steps to support the "positive agenda," as it aims to improve relations with the bloc, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın has said.

European Council President Charles Michel called on Turkey to keep working to resolve disputes with Greece and Cyprus over gas rights in the Mediterranean as he visited Ankara on Tuesday to discuss trade and refugees with President Tayyip Erdogan.

Nobody questions Turkey's candidacy for EU membership, said the bloc's top diplomat in Turkey on March 26 on the heels of an EU leaders' summit that tackled Turkish-EU ties.