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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday in Istanbul to discuss bilateral relations, humanitarian aid to Gaza, Türkiye's European Union membership bid, and ongoing peace efforts between Ukraine and Russia.
The meeting took place at the Dolmabahce Presidential Office, according to a statement from Türkiye's Communications Directorate.
Erdogan emphasized that Türkiye's priority remains the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and expressed confidence that "the oppression in Palestine will come to an end through joint efforts."
The Turkish president praised Spain's stance on the Gaza conflict, highlighting the country's "resolute" and "honorable" position against what he termed Israel's genocide in Gaza, according to the official statement.
Regarding Türkiye's European Union membership aspirations, Erdogan noted that "there has been no deviation from Türkiye's goal of European Union membership and that constructive steps from the European Union are expected to revive the accession process."
The Turkish leader maintained that Ankara remains committed to its EU membership objectives despite ongoing challenges in the accession process.
In 1987, Türkiye applied to join what was then the European Economic Community, and in 1999 it was declared eligible to join the EU. Türkiye’s EU Accession as negotiations started on Oct. 3, 2005. Until today, in Türkiye’s EU accession negotiations, 16 chapters are open, whereas one chapter is temporarily closed.
Due to the political blockages of member states and the 'Cyprus issue', the accession process has come to a deadlock. While 13 chapters were opened between 2006 and 2010, only one chapter was able to open in the period of 2010-2013.
Positive Agenda was started on May 17, 2012, between Türkiye and the European Commission. Positive Agenda is a working method that aims to enhance Türkiye-EU cooperation in areas of joint interest and fulfill the technical opening and closing benchmarks of negotiation chapters, including politically blocked ones, with the established working groups.
Erdogan stressed Türkiye's continued efforts to facilitate an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
He highlighted that prisoner exchanges, which were discussed during previous talks held in Istanbul between the two sides, are viewed by Türkiye as "important confidence-building steps."
The president emphasized that "the opportunity to end the war should not be wasted," underscoring Türkiye's role as a mediator in the conflict.
The Turkish president announced that efforts are ongoing to increase trade volume between Türkiye and Spain.
He stated that "both countries will continue to strive to advance cooperation in many areas, particularly in the defense industry and transportation."
The closed-door meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, and Presidential Foreign Policy and Security Chief Advisor Akif Cagatay Kilic.
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