H.E. Mr. Levent Murat Burhan:

A Chathaoirleach agus a chomhaltaí oirirce den choiste, I thank all of you for giving me the opportunity to address this respectable committee at this important time.

Turkey is a pluralist secular democracy which began to westernise its economic, political and social structures in the 19th century. Following the First World War and the proclamation of the republic in 1923, it chose western Europe as the model for its new secular structure. Turkey was one of the founding members of the United Nations and is a member of the Council of Europe, NATO and the OECD.

For the sake of brevity, I will move to the background to Turkey's relationship with the European Union. The Ankara Agreement which constitutes the legal basis of the association between Turkey and the European Union was signed in 1963, but the negotiations had begun in 1959, the year I was born, which means that it has been a one generation journey which is ongoing. The application for full membership was made in 1987. The eligibility of Turkey as a full member was accepted by the European Commission in 1989. It was also endorsed by the then Council. The customs union was established in 1995. At the Helsinki European Council in December 1999 - a turning point in our relationship - Turkey was officially recognised as a candidate state and accession negotiations started in October 2005. Up to today, 16 of the 35 chapters are open, while only one has been temporarily closed. For the time being, our relations are at a standstill, as defined by the European Union.

I will now share our views on the enlargement process. In our meeting today we will also focus on this aspect of our relationship with the European Union. It is a fact that the European Union has been facing considerable internal and external challenges which are simultaneous and multi-layered. They include the rise of far right and increased populist policies; economic, financial and social concerns; migration pressures; Brexit and the weakening of transatlantic ties. In that context, enlargement has been the most valuable asset in the possession of the European Union. It is clear that if it wants to be an influential actor in the global arena, it needs to keep its doors open.

If the European Union of today, despite the conjunctural challenges it faces, has become a model of integration from the European Steel and Coal Community of 1952, it is thanks solely to the consecutive enlargement waves. On the other hand, enlargement is also the European Union's greatest soft power tool. Constantly questioning it jeopardises its anchor role. Doubts about opening negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia and Albania raise the issue of reliability of the European Union. Common regional challenges of the Balkan countries require regional dialogue and co-operation. Turkey contributes to the development and prosperity of the Balkans. The Balkan dimension of the European Union’s enlargement policy cannot be finalised unless Turkey's accession process is completed. Considering Turkey as one of the external actors that tries to gain influence in the region is a populistic approach which harms Turkey-EU relations and the interests of the Balkan countries. During the new Commission’s term, we expect the European Union to make enlargement policy a priority. Keeping a strong membership perspective, with no discrimination among candidates, is crucial.

I will now share our views on the current state of affairs between Turkey and the European Union,onthe background to which I have provided some information. Our relationship with the European Union can be described as a complex, multi-layered and multi-dimensional partnership. At the time of Turkey's application for membership to the European Union in 1987, the Turkish Prime Minister, Turgut Özal, likened the process to "a long and narrow road", referring to a famous verse by the folk poet, Ak Veysel. Time has proved that not only has the road been long, winding and narrow but that it has also been bumpy, as mentioned by the Chairman in his opening remarks, yet each time the relationship showed resilience and we found a way through. We are again going through a delicate period, but we believe we will be able to find a way through this time too.

In November last year we had the last high level Turkey-EU political dialogue. We regret the recent decision by the European Union to suspend it as we believe we have a lot to gain from keeping the channels of communication open to better understand each other's views. In December last year the Joint Parliamentary Committee also met after more than a three-year break, but we do not know when the next meeting will take place. In January we had high level dialogue on transport and in February, on the economy. The Turkey-EU Association Council met in March after a four-year break. In the last country report on Turkey, published in May, it was confirmed that Turkey had in general reached a good level of alignment in 22 chapters and that there had been progress at various levels in 20 chapters during the past year. There had been some backsliding in some other chapters. However, we think that alignment cannot be expected to take place independently of the accession negotiations. For that reason, we would like to bring to the attention of the committee chapter 22 - judiciary and fundamental rights - and chapter 24 - justice, freedom and security, being the areas most criticised by the European Union, which chapters remain closed, unfortunately.

Our quest to modernise the customs union to include services and agricultural goods - it would be a win-win for the European Union and Turkey - has been obstructed by the Union, mainly for political reasons. The customs union involves an asymmetric relationship for Turkey, but it has been part of it for the past 20 to 25 years.We need to avoid misperceptions in our relations with the help of proper communication channels.

Parliamentarian diplomacy is one of them. The EU should acknowledge the fact that Turkey's accession process is also in the EU's interest.

Since 15 July 2019, the consecutive conclusions adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council have led to growing resentment in Turkey. The Council's conclusions regarding our drilling activities in the eastern Mediterranean and Operation Peace Spring are unfair and by no means objective. Turkey has the resolve to enhance its bilateral relations with the EU. However, this negative trend, which is further exploited by some member states, should come to an end. The EU should see the reality that the security and prosperity of Europe and NATO start at Turkey's eastern borders. As in the concrete example of the agreement of 18 March, Turkey has always made significant contributions to the security, stability and the prosperity of the EU. We are seeking to have the spirit of co-operation reached on migration in other areas, especially in our fight against terrorism. Our expectation is to implement the agreement of 18 March in its entirety. That involves progress on our accession negotiations, starting the modernisation of the customs union and supporting our efforts on visa liberalisation.

We are committed to the reform process. The parliament passed the first judicial reform package and it entered into force on 24 October 2019. Its objectives, among others, are to improve the independence, impartiality and transparency of the judiciary; further strengthen the freedom of expression and press; enhance the right to a fair trial by setting maximum detention periods; and reduce workloads of the judiciary. Following the adoption of this new law, competent courts have already ruled to release some detainees. This means that there is a legal process in accordance with the laws in force. Domestic legal remedies are in place, including the right of appeal to higher courts, and in the last instance domestically, individual application to the constitutional court is also possible. Where all domestic remedies are exhausted, an individual application to the European Court of Human Rights is also possible.We are now working on the six remaining benchmarks for visa liberalisation.

On the other side, we expect the EU to display visionary leadership and anchoring vis-à-visTurkey. We are aware that Turkey's accession to the EU may be the most difficult and most questioned but once realised its membership will be the most beneficial, for both Turkey and the EU in addition to the wider geographic region. Overcoming the difficulties in Turkey-EU relations will result in significant gains not only for Turkey and the EU but also for our region, the international system and global peace. No other country's membership of the EU is more valuable and meaningful to the people of Europe and its wider geographical area than that of Turkey, in areas ranging from foreign policy to culture, from security to energy and from trade to peace. Turkey's accession is key to addressing the major challenges that the EU and the rest of Europe are facing.

In these testing times, the EU and Turkey need each other more than before and have a lot to gain from co-operation in areas such as the fight against terrorism, security threats, irregular migration, energy security, the economy, trade and transport, in addition to people to people contact, in order to contribute to the security, stability and prosperity of our Continent and beyond. EU is Turkey's largest trade partner while Turkey is the EU's fifth.

Turkey considers itself to be part of the European family. We are a long-standing member of all European structures. Against all odds, becoming a full member of the EU - I emphasise "full member" - is still our strategic objective. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.