Erdogan met with the President of the EU Commission

Erdogan met with the President of the EU Commission. Erdogan and President Ursula von der Leyen, evaluated Turkey-EU relations. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, made an interview via videoconference with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In this interview, focus was on the regional developments along with issues relating to the development of Turkey-EU relations. In the meeting President Erdogan stated that EU is on a priority position in Turkey’s agenda, and said that they saw the future of Turkey in Europe. Noting that they want to open a new page in relations with the EU in the new year, President Erdoğan stated that 2020 could not be evaluated sufficiently due to the whims and artificial problems that some members of the EU produced, and that this situation was not sustainable not only in terms of the future of relations but also in terms of the broad common geography. Stating that the most important tool to be used in the first stage for a positive agenda in their relations is the updating of the March 18 Consensus, President Erdoğan underlined that 2021 offers a productive environment for new cooperation to be initiated in the field of migration. President Erdoğan emphasized that the Customs Union should be updated, visa liberalization for Turkish citizens should be provided and steps should be taken in membership negotiations, re-establishing mutual trust, re-operating consultation mechanisms and that the discriminatory actions and discourses against Turkey should be ended. Finally, President Erdoğan expressed that restarting regular Turkey-EU summits and high-level dialogue meetings would be beneficial.