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Türkiye's Foreign Economic Relations Board has launched a coordinated newspaper campaign calling on the leaders of seven European countries to restart Türkiye's long-stalled European Union accession process, framing full membership not as a distant aspiration but as an immediate strategic necessity for the continent.
The Foreign Economic Relations Board, known by its Turkish acronym DEIK, began placing full-page open letters in what it described as the most prestigious publications of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Poland and Belgium on May 8, with letters to Bild in Germany, Rzeczpospolita in Poland and De Tijd in Belgium appearing first. The remaining countries are to follow in the coming days.
DEIK President Nail Olpak said the letters go beyond the case for closer trade ties. "We are reminding leaders not only of our commercial bonds but also of the value Türkiye's full EU membership would add to Europe's strategic autonomy and global security," he said. Olpak described keeping the full-membership perspective alive as "an indispensable strategic necessity for Europe's geopolitical future."
The seven countries were chosen deliberately. Five of them, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, together with Poland, are referred to collectively as the "E6," the EU's six largest economies. Belgium, the seventh, is among the bloc's founding members. Olpak said the selection was "completely strategic and of critical importance," and noted that positive feedback from the targeted countries had already begun to arrive.
The initiative marks the second phase of a broader effort. DEIK published a similar open letter in the Financial Times in January 2026, addressed to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. DEIK said that letter drew encouraging responses from European business and political circles, prompting the expansion into national-language newspapers directed at individual heads of government.
The letters are signed jointly by Olpak, DEIK's Türkiye-Europe Business Councils Coordinator Mehmet Ali Yalcindag, and the chairs of Türkiye's bilateral business councils with the EU member states included in the campaign.
Yalcindag struck an urgent tone, warning that the diplomatic stalemate could no longer be treated as a manageable status quo. "There is no time left to wait and delay. In our view, leaving this issue unresolved is not an option," he said. "We view the future of Türkiye-EU relations not merely as economic cooperation but as a strategic necessity. Europe stands today at a historic turning point."
He argued that the global order is being reshaped by geopolitical fragmentation, technological transformation, artificial intelligence, the energy transition, supply-chain competition and an increasingly fragile security environment. In this context, he said, Europe's strategic weight and global competitiveness would depend on its capacity to develop a broader vision, move faster and forge stronger partnerships. "Türkiye is an indispensable part of that equation," he added.
Türkiye has held official EU candidate status since 1999, and accession negotiations formally opened in 2005. However, the process has been effectively frozen for years amid disputes over rule-of-law standards, democratic backsliding concerns and a series of foreign policy tensions between Ankara and member states.
The open letters call explicitly for a "paradigm shift" in how the EU approaches Türkiye, urging leaders to extend a clear and unambiguous membership perspective and to reaffirm the indivisibility of the two sides' futures. DEIK argues that doing so would restore strategic clarity and rebuild mutual confidence.
On the economic side, the letters contend that an updated EU-Türkiye Customs Union would sharpen European competitiveness in a geopolitically fragmented world. The current customs union, which has governed goods trade between Türkiye and the EU since 1996, has long been considered outdated by both sides; the European Commission proposed its modernization in 2016, but EU member states have not adopted negotiating directives.
The letters also emphasize that Turkish firms are already woven into European industrial value chains and innovation networks, and that Turkish companies, alongside EU companies operating in Türkiye, stand ready to contribute to a stronger and more self-confident EU through investment, innovation and long-term partnerships. Olpak said the goal is "to transform economic integration into a permanent strategic partnership on the path to full membership."
DEIK announced that the campaign's next milestone would come on May 11, when a Türkiye-Belgium Business Forum is scheduled to take place in the presence of Belgian Queen Mathilde. Olpak confirmed the membership question would be the forum's central agenda item.
The board said its outreach would extend beyond governments to universities, civil society organizations and think tanks across Europe, aiming to build a broader constituency for re-engagement with Türkiye's accession process.
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