* ADDS COMMENTS BY DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR RESEARCH AT EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND BY WORLD BANK COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR TURKEY.
ISTANBUL (AA) – A senior Turkish minister on Monday stressed the importance that the EU and Turkey both have for one another.
Addressing a high-level economics meeting in Istanbul, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said: “Turkey needs a strong European Union. A strong EU is vital for global peace and welfare.
“In order to solve regional problems, the EU is essential. The European Union needs a strong and stable Turkey. If Turkey is stable, the European Union will get stronger and increase its welfare. Turkey and the EU cannot be separated.”
He added: “Turkey is a very important member of the European family.”
Turkish-EU relations have recently focused on the response to the refugee crisis engulfing Europe. Earlier this month a deal was implemented that will see migrants returned to Turkey from Greece in exchange for Syrian refugees to be resettled in the EU.
“There is a real success here,” Simsek said. “Illegal crossings have decreased considerably.”
The scheme is aimed at reducing the numbers of dangerous crossings in the Aegean Sea as unscrupulous human smugglers take advantage of desperate refugees.
Jyrki Katainen, a European Commission vice-president, said the migration issue is too much of a challenge for a single state to tackle alone.
“It is an issue that cannot be solved overnight and there is no perfect solution,” he told the meeting.
Simsek said visa liberalization for Turkish nationals, which has been promised as part of the refugee deal, would increase commerce in the EU and Turkey.
Speaking at the same event, Rifat Hisarciklioglu, head of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), said that his priority is visa liberalization for Turkish citizens visiting the EU.
“Visas are the one of the chief hurdles to EU-Turkey business cooperation. Due to visas, we cannot take advantage of many mutual business opportunities. Visa liberalization would facilitate more communication and cooperation between the EU and Turkey,” he said.
On Saturday, European Council President Donald Tusk said that beyond the cooperation on the migration crisis, Turkey and the EU have revitalized their relations and agreed on a roadmap on visa liberalization for Turkish citizens.
Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn also spoke about the economic ties between the EU and Turkey at Monday’s meeting.
Hahn said that more than 20,000 companies owned by Europeans operate in Turkey, while Turkish companies active in the EU provide employment to around 600,000 people in the 28-state bloc.
– Calls to join EU research and development
Wolfgang Burtscher, deputy director-general for research at the European Commission, told the meeting that Turkey has seen success in Horizon 2020, the EU’s largest innovation program.
However, he said the level of participation from Turkey “should increase”.
Burtscher called on Turkish nationals to apply for the EU’s research and study programs, adding: “We provide financing for businesses, especially SMEs, and we think Turks could benefit more from this support.”
Johannes Zutt, World Bank country director for Turkey, also told the meeting that Turkey could see a growth rate of 5.1 percent if it puts more effort into medium- and long-term investments and boosts women’s employment.
