Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

The opening speeches of the general assembly held at the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) İstanbul Service Building were made by TOBB Vice President and İstanbul Commodity Exchange (İSTİB) President Ali Kopuz, İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) President Şekib Avdagiç, İstanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) Vice President Sadık Ayhan Saruhan and IKV President Ayhan Zeytinoğlu.

In his speech here, Kopuz stated that relations with the European Union are extremely important for Turkey's modernization and enrichment process, and that as TOBB, they always keep relations with the EU at the top of their priorities.

Stating that the Customs Union is the most important tool for the transformation of Turkey's production capacity, Kopuz said, “The accession negotiations have further expanded and deepened Turkey's transformation process. In recent years, the accession process has stalled. As the Turkish business world, we are not happy with this situation. Given the current challenges facing our countries, the need to revive relations is clear.”

Kopuz stated that strategically important issues such as energy security, food security should be included in the Turkey-EU joint working area, stressing that green transformation and digital transformation should be another important field of cooperation.

Pointing out that the modernization of the Customs Union will make significant contributions for the Turkish and EU business world, Kopuz said, "Essentially, we are thinking about the green turn-digital transformation and the modernization of the Customs Union together. In this respect, I think the Turkey Investment Platform mechanism is very important. We want it to become functional as soon as possible."

- "The Customs Union should be revised"

ITO President Şekib Avdagiç said that Europe's stability, peace and security and economic prosperity can only be improved if they establish close relations with powerful countries such as Turkey.

Stating that Turkey will grow the European Union with its geostrategic position, dynamic structure and strong potential, Avdagiç continued:

“Turkey has the potential to carry the European Union far beyond being a symbolic organization. A European Union equation without Turkey would be full of dangers and uncertainties for Europe, as seen in the Russo-Ukrainian War. This political conjuncture we are in has once again shown us the importance of Turkey's full membership. Turkey's intertwined destiny with Europe is greater than the shallow interests of the countries that are trying to block our negotiation process with the European Union.”

ICI Vice President Sadık Ayhan Saruhan said, "Considering that the European Union is our largest export market and we still receive only 3.7 percent of Europe's imports, I would like to state that it is of great importance that we redefine a sincere relationship with the EU with a sustainable, timetable and definite results and eliminate uncertainties in order to get the share we deserve from the EU market. In this context, the revision of the Customs Union and the arrangement of its scope in accordance with the changing conditions should be concluded as soon as possible.”