Turkey accepts the European Union’s invitation to negotiations, which we hope can begin immediately. Turkey believes that Europe stands to gain much through partnership with Turkey, as it is the gateway into the East.

Turkey was a founding member of the Council of Europe in 1949, a member of the Western European Union from its beginning to its end in 2011, and has had amicable relations with the European Union since its founding. However some redressement is necessary for more recent actions.

The following are Turkish positions:

Turkey requests:

1. Dramatic increase in aid and EU funding for the more than 3.5 million refugees currently living inside its borders. The EU recently reached an agreement that would provide 6,000 Euro for each asylum seeker it accepts. We require that we receive the same such treatment from EU, for a total of 21 billion Euro.
2. Fast-track admission into the European Union and the Eurozone. We need written confirmation that Turkey would be completely integrated into the European Union within five years.
3. We require that the European Union dismiss its unreasonable accusations of political purges in 2016 and 2017. Turkey requires reparations for its unfair treatment and for the economic productivity that it has lost as a result of being blocked. We suggest that, rather than a lump-sum, Turkey be given special economic privileges to European markets for the first 15 years following the ratification of this treaty.
4. Turkey requires that the European Union and all its governments cease the protection and support of terrorist organizations within its borders, and those that operate outside them. These organizations include: The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in Turkey; the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq; the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria; the People’s Protection Units (YPG); and all other organizations associated with them.

We eagerly await a response.