Senior EU officials underline strategic importance of ties with Türkiye after talks in Ankara

Senior European Union officials emphasized the importance of strengthening ties with Türkiye following high-level talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Tuesday, highlighting cooperation on security, migration, energy and regional stability.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas described Türkiye as “a key partner on security, migration, and energy,” while also underlining its status as an EU candidate country.

Following her meeting with Erdoğan, Kallas said the sides discussed ways to further strengthen EU-Türkiye relations and stressed the importance of maintaining good-neighborly relations.

“We also addressed Russia’s war against Ukraine, the conflicts in the Middle East, and preparations for the NATO Summit in Ankara. Türkiye is making a significant contribution to protecting NATO’s Eastern Flank,” she wrote on US social media platform X.

EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, who joined Kallas and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos during the visit, said cooperation on security and migration remained a top priority for both sides and formed a core element of the bilateral agenda.

“The current geopolitical situation highlighted that we face common challenges and we need to work together,” Brunner said on X.

Kos also stressed the benefits of closer cooperation between Brussels and Ankara, pointing to opportunities to increase trade and investment and strengthen transport, energy and digital connectivity between Europe and Asia.

“We have much to gain from working more closely with Türkiye … At a time of growing turbulence, close cooperation between the EU and Türkiye can bring greater predictability and advance regional stability,” she said on X.