Turkey’s Euro-Atlantic integration process dates back to seven decades. Turkey became a NATO member in 1952, while the other leg of its integration, its accession to the European Union has long been waiting for progress. Turkey was declared a candidate country in December 1999, negotiation talks were opened in October 2005, but only a limited progress has been made since then. Out of the 35 negotiation chapters in total, only 16 chapters have been opened, and one of these has been – provisionally – closed. During the past decade accession talks have stalled, and disagreements have emerged in multiple fields between the two, which further questions the continuation of Turkey’s accession process that is still a key foreign policy priority for Turkey.

At the same time, it should be underlined that Turkey and the European Union are interconnected by a number of strategic issues, such as migration, security, energy security, counter-terrorism, economy, and trade, which necessitate close cooperation and coordination. In line with the aforementioned, the proposed online conference seeks to shed light on the current state of Turkey-EU relations, to analyse the problematic issues on the accession agenda, and to identify the ways how accession talks could be revitalised.

Welcoming Remarks
Zsolt CSEPREGI Deputy Director, Antall József Knowledge Centre

Opening Speech
HE Ahmet Akif OKTAY Ambassador, Turkish Embassy in Budapest

Panel I: The Dynamics of EU Enlargement and Turkey’s Accession Process: A Historical Perspective

Zafer MEŞE Coordinator, Berlin, SETA - Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research

Zoltán EGERESI, PhD Research Fellow, Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies, National University of Public Service

Moderator: Tamás KOZMA Head of Department, Asian and African Relations Department, Antall József Knowledge Centre

Panel II: Current Challenges & Future Prospects of Turkey-EU Relations

Enes BAYRAKLI, PhD Director of European Studies, SETA - Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research

Máté SZALAI, PhD Programme Manager, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade

Moderator: Zoltán EGERESI, PhD Research Fellow, Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies, National University of Public Service