Accession of Turkey to the European Union

This fall the attention of the EU was focused on the refugee issue, while at the same time shortcomings in human rights and media freedom (mentioned in the EU Progress Report on Turkey) in Turkey were also mentioned by all EU leaders to their Turkish interlocutors at a recent EU-Turkey Summit in Brussels, said Ambassador Hansjörg Haber, the head of the Delegation of the European Commission to T

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has reportedly sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu, promising progress in the opening of five negotiation chapters between Turkey and the EU in the first quarter of 2016. The letter implies that the Greek Cypriot government will be convinced to lift its veto on the related chapters.

The European Union has provided a commitment to Ankara to launch necessary procedures on five accession chapters whose opening is currently under veto by Greek Cyprus, in a bid to deliver on promises recently given to Turkey, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned. 

Turkey's relations with the EU have regressed to the extent of the country becoming Europe's gatekeeper, given 3 billion euros in return for halting the refugee flow to Europe. Turkey has managed to save face with other inducements including promises like a resumption of formal EU membership negotiations in the long term and the granting of visa-free travel in the short term. 

The European Union will mark this year's Human Rights Day with movies addressing individual rights, human dignity and the experiences of a varied group of people, bringing 33 documentaries to audiences in Ankara between Dec 7 and 20 and in Istanbul between Dec. 9 and 18.

"2015 has been a challenging year for upholding human rights in both Turkey and the European Union.

The agreements reached at the recently held EU-Turkey summit will be implemented and not just "stay on paper," Turkish EU Minister Volkan Bozk?r has said.

"Measures will be taken so that the summit agreements do not stay on paper," Bozk?r told reporters in Ankara on Dec. 2, ahead of a working lunch with EU ambassadors in Brussels.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s advisor Burhan Kuzu commented on his Twitter account about the refugee agreement achieved between the EU and Turkey pn November 29.

He stated that the EU yielded under Turkey’s threat to open its borders to refugees and decided to provide Turkey with financial support for the migrant crisis.

The most difficult issue to agree on during the G-20 Summit that took place last month in Antalya, Turkey, was climate change, a global challenge for which world leaders have gathered today in Paris.

This hardly surprises Turkish experts, as they thought the weakest statement of the G-20 came on the topic of climate change.

Turkey's Economic Development Foundation (?KV) has welcomed decisions reached at the European Union-Turkey Summit on Nov. 29, stating that they presented a chance to revive Turkey's accession process to the EU. 

"It is pleasing that a new start has been made in the relations," read a part of the statement issued on Nov. 30 by the ?KV. 

EU leaders struck a deal with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at the EU Council in Brussels on Sunday where Turkey will help stem the flow of migrants to Europe in return for cash, visas and renewed EU entry talks. Davutoglu called the deal that was hammered out by diplomats in the previous weeks a “new beginning”.