Coronavirus boosting Turkey, EU dialogue

ANKARA

Despite political obstacles, dialogue between Turkey and the EU has benefited amid the mutual fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic, a senior Turkish diplomat said on Wednesday.

Speaking via webinar in a program titles European Union and Turkey-EU Relations in the COVID-19 process, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister and Director for EU Affairs Faruk Kaymakci said: "COVID-19 has led to an increase in dialogue that was blocked politically between the EU and Turkey. We hope we can get more effective results."

Kaymakci noted that a donors' conference would be held on May 4 on the development of a vaccine and treatment, adding that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen could hold a phone call "in the coming days" with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to request that Turkey "take an active role in this conference."

On the initial response of some EU members to the outbreak, he said that "many countries could not predict that the crisis could reach this point."

When the pandemic crisis started in Europe, EU countries started taking precautions against each other without consulting the EU, said Kaymakci.

Migration

Kaymakci said that though the pandemic relegated the issue of migration between Turkey and the EU to a lesser priority, it would reemerge in the long term.

"We hope that a new agreement on migration is made between Turkey and the EU in the coming weeks," he said.

Additionally, he underlined that as part of the measure against pandemic, 32,000 Turkish nationals so far had been brought home from 76 countries.

"We are not only bringing our citizens [back] to Turkey, but also helping citizens of other countries in Turkey to return to their countries," he said.

Around 175,000 foreign citizens have left Turkey so far, he added.

The novel coronavirus has spread to 185 countries and regions since emerging in China last December, with the U.S. and Europe being the hardest-hit areas in the world.

More than 2.61 million cases have been reported worldwide. The death toll has exceeded 181,200 while the recoveries are over 703,500, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.