More than 100 participants from all across Turkey, including most AER Turkish members, took part in an event on EU funding on Thursday 4 May in Ankara.

The event was greatly hosted by Ankara Metropolitan municipality with AER as co-organiser. Wide participation was ensured thanks to the cooperation of the Turkish Ministry of EU affairs, the Association of Turkish municipalities and the Turkish interior ministry.

The opening speeches by the AER President, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General and the Vice President of AK Party in charge of Foreign affairs as well as the closing speech by the deputy head of the EU delegation to Turkey, were the occasion to state the will of both Turkey and the European Union to continue cooperating on useful projects and initiatives.

Areas of funding cooperation between Turkey and EU were highlighted by the Turkish Ministry of EU affairs which gave an overview on the main EU programmes available to the Turkish partners and ways to successully apply to them.

AER presented the support and services provided to its members to access EU funds before four AER member regions (Denizli, Izmir, Sakarya, Gaziantep) shared best practices as project applicants.

Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli, AER President, stressed the uniqueness of AER in gathering so many Turkish local and regional representatives to help them share on European topics.

The work starts today and further actions are already planned for AER Turkish members. Stay tuned on our website and social media!

Agenda, presentations and pictures can be found on the event page HERE