Turkey, EU agree on 12-month calendar in accession bid

Turkey and the European Union have agreed on a 12-month calendar on the future of Turkey’s accession bid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 25 while returning to Turkey from meetings with the bloc’s top executives and leaders of the European powerhouses, Turkish Hurriyet reported.

The EU conducted some studies before the meetings, Erdoğan told journalists.

“We got a 12-month calendar from them about the studies they made. We will make a study on this calendar with the Foreign Ministry and the EU Ministry,” the president said.

In long-anticipated gatherings, Erdoğan met Council of Europe President Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker before a NATO summit in the Belgian capital on May 25.

The president also had separate meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May at a time when ties between Turkey and the bloc have become strained.

“The EU and Turkey must and will continue to cooperate. Major issues of common interest were discussed in detail in a good and constructive atmosphere,” a spokeswoman for the European Commission said after the meetings.

Erdoğan, Juncker and Tusk discussed the state of a 2016 agreement in which Ankara prevents migrants from traveling from its territory to Europe in return for visa-free travel to the bloc for Turkish citizens and funds to aid refugees in Turkey.

“This is not only the visa issue. We have raised the issue of Red Crescent and AFAD support. This matter was also on the agenda and we will continue the works on that mutually,” Erodğan said.